Fifteen Shades of CJ Grey
by MrsLuthor
Summary: This is third in my Fifty Shades series. You might want to read Fifty Shades Apart, and Gone Baby Gone first. This story picks up when CJ is fifteen and revolves around her and how she views and interacts with her family in her regular life, as well as when crisis develops, and she's caught up in the middle of it
1. T-R-O-U-B-L-E

A/N: I suggest reading Fifty Shades Apart and then Gone, Baby, Gone before starting this story as it is the third installment in that series.

I'd like to throw out a great big thank-you to all of you lovely people who stuck around and welcomed me back after my stint in that terrible place where they force me to learn for 8 – 10 hours a day, while rapidly draining me every last penny and ounce of social life that I've ever had.

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek I posted a few days ago. You'll recognize it as the first part of chapter one. ;)

As always, comment, reviews, and inbox messages are ALWAYS welcome. Any questions regarding things that will eventually be revealed will be left unanswered until they occur in the story. I hope you understand.

For those of you who are new or need a refresher:

… Represents a change in scene.

… … … _(italics)_ Represents a flashback

Grey line as shown below, represents a change in POV

* * *

Without further ado, I give you…

**Chapter One – T-R-O-U-B-L-E**

"You're late." I say as I hear my eldest daughter pass my open office door, the too-high heels that she 'borrowed' from my closet clicking against the floorboards in the hallway.

"I was at the library." She says, poking her head in the door and grinning at me, her long auburn curls bouncing with her every movement.

"Your father is waiting for you in his study. You should probably try the truth with him, though; Mr. Charleston called him out of a meeting earlier." I inform her casually, raising a brow at her. "I suggest losing the bright red lipstick before seeing your father." I add, watching her face fall.

She must have forgotten that she put it on. She's usually much better at removing it before getting home, not that we don't notice the faint, unnatural hue on her mouth anyway. I guess detention has distracting effects on her.

"Is he mad?" She asks, slipping the shoes off and accepting the tissue I hold out to her.

"It's been four hours since your principal called." I point out. "So he's probably still positively furious." I add honestly.

_Palm twitcingly so_. I muse to myself.

"Are you going to come? I may need a witness." She says, smirking at me with an expression identical to her father's.

"This isn't funny, Christian." I tell her, completely unamused.

"Sorry." She mutters, sulking in the chair next to my desk.

"When you say that you're sorry for something, it means you're going to try not to do that thing anymore. If you continue apologizing for the same things, how on earth can we believe that you're truly sorry?" I ask her, and she just shrugs.

Christian hates the shrug.

"Go." I say, trying desperately to be tough and unmoving, rather than giving her tips to soften her father's resolve before he lays into her for today's misdemeanor. If anyone understands how scary the wrath of Christian T. Grey can be, it's me.

* * *

"Hi, Daddy!" CJ sings brightly, entering my office without knocking and plopping down onto the arm chair opposite my desk.

She knows she's in trouble. She must have spoken to Ana before coming to see me. Or she wants something. I don't remember the last time she genuinely called me 'Daddy' without an ulterior motive. At fifteen years old, she's a self-professed woman, not a little girl. She never did like being called 'baby'.

"CJ." I answer curtly, closing my laptop and turning my attention to her bright grey eyes and dimply grin.

"Whatchya doin'?" She asks, curling her legs up under herself in the chair.

"Looking at boarding schools in the Swiss Alps." I lie, keeping my voice and face equally stoic, just to see her grin fade to fear, but it's brief.

"Yea, right." She says, grinning again and picking up my coffee cup from my desk. "You wouldn't send me away to some place you couldn't monitor my every move." She adds casually, taking a long sip of my coffee.

She knows me too well.

"Why were you in detention?" I ask, ignoring her smile and staring impassively at her.

"I'm being framed!" She says, leaning forward as if we're in on some secret conspiracy with one another. "Just for reference, can Grandpa's lawyer skills get me out of trouble for making fake hall passes?" She whispers.

I lean forward, my expression remaining stoic, and I pretend as if I'm joining her conspiracy.

"No." I whisper back, watching her face drop once again. "Do you even know why you were in detention today?" I ask, leaning back in my chair and appraising her.

"I told you, I was framed." She says again, crossing her arms.

"And your principal just decided to call me today to say that you weren't in your chemistry class because he had nothing better to do with his time than disturb me and get you into trouble." I state, as if adding to her story.

"EXACTLY!" She says, rising from the chair. "I'm so glad you understand. Good talk, Dad."

"STOP!" I shout, causing her to freeze in her tracks, but she doesn't turn to face me. "Cell phone."

She sighs, reaching into her pocket and tossing her blackberry onto the chair she's just vacated with a huff. She mutters something under her breath as she steps toward the door again, but I'm not sure I heard her correctly.

"I beg your pardon?" I ask, raising a brow at the back of her copper haired head.

She turns, her eyes narrow and her mouth set in a thin line. She's pissed. Good.

"Nothing." She mutters, rolling her eyes at me.

"I'll take your computer as well." I tell her, keeping my voice emotionless. I can't be emotional when I'm disciplining my children. I can, however, take away everything but the basic necessities of life.

"You should take my television too!" She shouts, crossing her arms and glaring at me as if she doesn't give two shits about what I take. "Oh, and I'm going to skip Math tomorrow, so you should just take my tablet away now." She adds.

"I just might do that." I mutter as she stomps out of my study.

I press the call button on my phone and wait for Sanders to pick up.

"Sir?" He replies after only one ring.

"CJ is planning to skip her mathematics class tomorrow. I want you to report to me if she does and detain her. I briefed you about her last guard. Don't let your fate be the same." I warn, reminding him of how close Prescott and CJ became. So close, in fact, that hard-as-nails Prescott became soft-as-a-teddy puppet to my daughter.

"Yes, sir." He replies before I hang up.

I'm not concerned with security while my children are in school. I have one guard on the school property at all times should an emergency arise, but the school is quite secure. I've checked it myself. CJ just seems to know how to give them the slip. My main concern is her behaviour.

If only I were able to be her guard. The thought makes me grin. She'd hate that. I'd love it. I tried it with Ana once. It didn't go well.

* * *

"I'm grounded." I whisper into the phone.

"Can't you sneak out?" Bane asks, and a flutter of excitement fills my stomach.

"I guess I could try…" I say as a plan begins to form in my mind.

"You're not s'posed to be on the phone, CJ!" Jaisyn says standing in my doorway, and I wonder how the hell she opened my door without me noticing, and more importantly, how long she's been standing there.

"You're supposed to knock." I counter, hoping to throw her off her game.

She's been put on a strict 'knock before you enter someone else's room' instruction ever since she walked in on my parents doing… god knows what because the way Jaisyn explains it, they were practically beating the crap out of each other, but they claim she walked in during sex. I didn't pry. Frankly, I'd prefer to believe that we were all as lucky as Lelliott to be adopted into this family and that my parents have never done more than kiss each other. Anything else would be disgusting.

"I did knock. You didn't answer. I thought you were dead, so I came in to check on you." She says, walking fully into my room and plopping down on my bed next to me.

I groan, pressing the phone to my chest and glaring at her.

"Remind me again when I invited you into my room?" I ask, sarcasm dripping off of every syllable.

She frowns, and crosses her arms as I narrow my eyes even more.

"If you don't let me stay in here, I'm going to tell daddy that you're on the phone." She says, tilting her chin up as if she's won.

"If you don't get out of my room right now, I'm going to tell daddy that you're trying to blackmail your own sister. God, Jaisyn! What kind of person are you? You're just as bad as that witch who tried to take over daddy's company with that scary envelope." I tell her, knowing that that entire situation really upset her a few months.

She looks contrite, and I know I've won.

"Out." I mouth, putting the phone back to my ear as she slinks off of my bed and sulks out of my room, closing the door behind her. "Hey, sorry about that." I whisper into the phone again.

"What was that all about?" Bane asks, and I roll my eyes.

"My sister needs to beaten into submission or something. She never does what she's told." I say, rolling my eyes at the entire situation that is Little Miss Jaisyn Grey.

"So, you coming out or not?" He asks, and I grin.

"Meet me at the park by my house. I'll be there soon." I whisper, hanging up quickly and jumping off of my bed.

Knowing 'the new guy' is watching the CCTV screens in the security office, I glance up at the camera by my bedroom door and grin as I walk out of my room. I make my way down the hall to Rae's room and poke my head in to find her sitting on her bedroom floor.

"Whatchya doing, Sunshine?" I ask, getting the attention of her shockingly large blue eyes.

"Nuffin." She says with a shrug. She and I both know she should be asleep, and I'm sure that my parents have the monitor on and glued to one of their hips.

"Come on. You should be in your bed. Do you wanna read a story?" I ask, moving over to the bed side table and flicking off her monitor.

"Okay!" She says, jumping to her feet and throwing herself onto her bed.

"You know what would be even more fun?" I ask her, adjusting the twisted foot of her full piece pajamas.

"What?!" She asks, getting hyped up.

"If you go ask Sanders to read you a story!" I continue with enthusiasm.

Her answering grin is all I need as she scrambles off of her bed and over to her bookshelf. I flick her monitor back on and say goodnight to her empty bed, knowing she's probably halfway down the hall now with her arms full of books.

Back in my room, I hit the listen button on my intercom to the security office and hear 'new guy' reading Hop on Pop.

Too easy.

I know I only have a few minutes to make my escape now, so I plump up my bed to make it look like I'm in it, flick off my light, and shimmy out my window onto the trellis.

…

"It's about time." Bane says, leaning against the hood of his car.

I smile as I walk into his arms and knot my wrists around his neck.

"I had to create a diversion." I explain. "You know my dad would have your head if he knew I was sneaking out to see you." I tease, though a part of me believes that he really would have Bane's head, probably mounted on a polished piece of wood, hung above the huge executive chair in his office.

"I could take your old man on." Bane brags, and I let him have it, even though I know my father well enough to know that he's never lost a fight.

"So where are we going?" I ask, changing the subject. I really don't like that idea of my father getting his hands on my boyfriend.

"My buddy is having a party." He says, letting me go. "I gotta grab the beers on the way, so get in." He adds, opening his door and climbing in as I walk around the car to the passenger side.

* * *

"How's it going?" Ana asks as she enters my study.

"It's going." I reply softly, knowing she's referring to the contract terms she asked me to look over for her earlier today. She told me from day one that she liked editing, not running a business, so I shouldn't fault her for giving me what she refers to as the 'boring stuff' to read over.

She perches herself on the edge of my desk, just right of me, and crosses one leg over the other. By the time my eyes make it back up to her face, she's smirking down at me, her left brow raised and her eyes heated.

Without another word, I slide my chair out and stand, nudging her legs open with my knee and perching myself between them.

"Hi." She breathes softly as I trace the lacy tops of her stockings just under the hem of her skirt.

I don't reply. Instead, I lean forward, brushing my lips against hers.

A giggle from the doorway grabs our attention, and I move away, clearing my throat.

"What can I do for you, Sunshine?" I ask, walking toward the doorway and scooping Rae up into my arms. She giggles again, her teddy bear flopping around and her feet kicking as I tickle her belly.

"I'm not sleepy!" She says through her giggles.

"Christian, don't get her all riled up." Ana sighs, having put our stubborn three-year-old to bed well over two hours ago. We thought we were in the clear when we heard CJ trying to put her back to bed over the monitor, but it obviously didn't work.

"You should already be asleep." I tell Rae, trying to keep my face as stern as possible. It's difficult because of the large blue eyes and soft brown pigtails that adorn her precious head.

"I want to play." She says, blinking her unnaturally long lashes at me.

"I don't think you're dressed for playing." I tell her, lifting one of her footie pajama covered feet up in my hand. "Nope, these are not shoes." I tell her, kissing the bottom of her foot through the soft fabric. "Do I have to take you back to bed?" I ask her, narrowing my eyes.

"No bed!" She says, crossing her arms and pouting at me.

"If you don't go to sleep, tomorrow can't come." Ana says, and I grin. This line has been used on all of our children.

"Okaaaaay." She says slowly, allowing me to put her on her feet before sulking out of my study. I stand in the doorway and watch as she passes a few guards, who grin down at her as she makes her way back toward her bedroom.

"Bells. We need to attach bells to her." Ana says, stepping into my embrace.

"I don't know that they'd help. You're very distracting Mrs. Grey." I reply, nuzzling her neck.

* * *

I shift uncomfortably on the sofa next to Bane. This 'party' turned out to be Bane and I, plus one other couple who are practically devouring each other on the love seat across the tiny living room of the equally tiny apartment.

"Hey, drink your beer, babe." Bane says, drawing my attention back to him as he hands me my barely touched bottle.

I don't like the taste of it, but I want Bane to think I'm mature. He's seventeen, and has a fake I.D. that says he's twenty-two, but for some reason that I honestly can't fathom, he's interested in me. He wants to be MY boyfriend. I feel almost obligated to drink the beer, just to prove to him that I'm mature enough to be with him.

I tilt the bottle, taking a long gulp and trying not to let my face screw up at the awful taste assaulting my mouth.

"It's an acquired taste." He says with a laugh.

I guess I wasn't as discreet as I thought.

"What are you doing?" I ask, feeling groggy already from the beer I forced down prior to this one. I glance down at Bane's hand on my thigh, and frown.

"I saw your midterm marks; you're too smart of a girl to be asking such a dumb question." He says, grinning at me.

I shift away from him, putting my beer on the table in front of us, and stand up.

"Can you take me home? I'm not feeling well." I lie, hoping he'll buy it. I'm nowhere near prepared to do what he thinks we're going to do.

"Come here." He says, tugging my hand until I fall into his lap. "We'll go slow." He whispers, kissing my cheek and then my shoulder.

I struggle back to my feet and shake my head quickly.

"I want to go home." I say more firmly, but he rolls his eyes.

"So go." He replies, leaning back into the couch as if he's getting comfortable for the long haul.

"You're not going to take me?" I ask, trying to keep the shock out of my voice.

"Nah, I've had a beer and a half already. Your daddy wouldn't' approve of me driving you. You'd better walk." He says, the sarcasm oozing out of his mouth.

I feel myself pale. I don't know exactly where I am, and my head is fuzzy. I'm not sure I could find my way home if I was completely sober, let alone right now.

I'm speechless as I make my way out the door of the grungy apartment and down the long, narrow flight of stairs that lead out to the street.

I look up and down, hoping that something familiar will appear from nowhere and give me some kind of clue as to which way I should go, but nothing looks familiar. Rather than watching my surroundings as we drove, I stared at Bane, counting the freckles on the side of his neck, watching as his skilled hands maneuvered the steering wheel and the gear shift in the console between us.

I decide to go left and walk up toward the closest intersection. I'm sure once I see which crossroads I'm at, I'll be able to come up with a route home. I kick myself for not having my wallet on me. A cab would be much easier than walking, although, I also don't have a phone, so I'd have to try to flag a cab down. It's nearly midnight on a Friday; all of the cabs will be rushing off to pick up a bunch of drunk club goers.

"CJ?" I hear, and I spin around, trying to locate where the voice is coming from. "Christian Grey?" She asks again as I finally lay eyes on her.

Great. Dad's old friend, turned enemy, or whatever. All I know is, she threatened my dad with a hostile takeover, and mom didn't like her as soon as she stepped into the house.

"Uh, yea… Mrs. Lincoln, right?" I ask awkwardly to the woman through the open passenger window of her car. What does one say to one's parents' enemy?

"What are you doing in this neighbourhood at this time of night?" She asks, as if it's any of her business.

"I was with a friend. We had a fight. She was my ride. You know how it goes." I explain vaguely, replacing Bane with some unnamed female friend.

"Do your parents know where you are?" She asks, and I want to roll my eyes. I'm fifteen years old. I don't need to be stalked or babysat. "I didn't think so." She says with a knowing grin.

I shrug, not committing to either answer.

"Get in. I'll give you a ride home." She says, hitting the unlock button on her door.

I sigh. I really don't think my parents would approve of me getting into a car with this woman, but I KNOW they'd never approve of me walking home from the other side of the city, half intoxicated in the dead of night.

"So, what was your fight about?" She asks, breaking the silence as we drive along the dark streets, save for the twilight of the street lamps.

"Oh, you know, girl stuff." I lie, but I can see her glance skeptically at me through the corner of her eye.

"You know, I have a secret or two, myself. I understand the desire to keep one's private life private, but I also know how heavy a lie can feel, so if you feel like you need to get it out…" She says, trailing off.

I shrug and stare at her through the corner of my eye. She seems so familiar, though I don't know how I know her, other than when she came by and fought with my parents last month. She's beautiful, and I can't help but be envious of her perfectly blonde hair that tumbles around her shoulders in varying layers and lengths.

"I was with my boyfriend." I admit quietly.

"I suspected as much." She replies, smirking briefly at me as we turn down another dark road.

"Where are we going?" I ask as I realize that I don't recognize this area any more than I did the last time I looked out the window.

"I can't very well send you home to your parents smelling like booze and cigarettes." She says with a half laugh.

I nod, though I'm still not sure where we're going.

"I'll take you to my place. You can sober up and borrow some perfume, and I then I'll get you home." She explains, as if reading my thoughts.

I'm not sure what bad blood she has with my parents, but I kind of like Mrs. Lincoln.

…

"Here, drink this." She says, handing me a mug of black coffee. I cringe, I prefer milk and sugar, but she gives me a look that reminds me of my father's don't-you-dare-try-to-argue expression.

"Thanks." I say, though I'm less than thankful when I take my first gulp of the bitter liquid. At least it's better tasting than the beer was.

"So, did you have permission to be in a seedy neighbourhood with a boy?" Mrs. Lincoln asks, and I shrug, not wanting to answer. "I didn't think so." She says with a smirk.

"My dad is so strict. He makes it like I'm this terrible person who can't be trusted." I admit, feeling very comfortable with this woman.

"It's not you he doesn't trust. It's the rest of the world." She tells me, sitting next to me at the dining room table.

"No, believe me, he doesn't trust me." I tell her, feeling a tinge of ache.

"Have you done something to cause this distrust?" She asks, and I shrug again as I mentally list off my misdemeanors for today alone.

"I thought as much." She says, tilting her head to the side. "You know, I knew your father when he was a kid. He was a trouble maker, too." She adds with a wink.

"Yea right." I scoff, wondering if my dad's ever crossed a single line in his entire life.

"I swear it. He was a hell raiser. When he was about your age, your grandparents weren't sure how to handle him at all. He was getting into fights every day, getting kicked out of schools." She says, trailing off as if she's remembering something.

"That's pretty hard to believe. I mean the fighting, I guess. He's pretty tough, but I've never actually seen him hurt someone." I explain, knotting my fingers in my lap.

"Well, I don't want to take all of the credit, but I did help whip him into shape." She says, smirking like she has some kind of inside joke.

"You did?" I ask, hoping to prompt a little more info out of her.

"Oh, yes. I put him to work. He did odd jobs around my house. It helped to turn his energy to more productive activities." She says, nudging the coffee closer to me as if she wants me to finish it.

I take a big gulp, hoping to finish it more quickly.

"So, you're the one who turned him into a workaholic?" I accuse, hoping I sound like I'm teasing. In reality, he is a workaholic, and it does drive me crazy. Maybe if he had more time for me, I wouldn't be spending my time out with questionable characters.

I mentally kick myself, knowing that's not why I like Bane. _Liked._

"All right, let's get you home." Mrs. Lincoln says, pulling me from my thoughts. I glance at the clock on the wall above the stove and see that it's nearly one in the morning.

"I'll probably be in a lot of trouble when I get home." I warn her.

"I guess we'd better get you in quietly then." She says, winking conspiratorially at me.

"Really?" I ask, shocked that an adult is being so relaxed with me.

"Your parents are going to lay into you, am I right?" She asks, and I nod. "And has being yelled at ever stopped you from doing whatever it is you've done again?" I shake my head, wondering where she's going with this. "I didn't think so. What's the point of causing your parents stress and letting this entire situation blow out of proportion if you're only going to do it again?"

"So… you're just gonna help me sneak back in and not say anything at all?" I ask skeptically.

"I'm going to help you sneak back in, and I'm not going to tell your parents that you were out, but you're going to do something for me in return." She says, and I narrow my eyes suspiciously.

"I delivered an envelope to your father last month, and the entire thing caused a blowout that probably rivals some of your own with him. I just want to put this whole thing behind me, so if you can just find that envelope and return it to me, I can keep tonight our little secret." She says, and I nod slowly, contemplating the situation.

If it was her envelope to begin with, I guess it is technically okay to give it back to her.

"Deal." I say, smiling as we walk out to her car.

…

"Now, just do as I told you. You'll be fine." She says, as we pull up to my street. "And, Christian, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me. I'd rather know where you are if you're going to need someone to come to your rescue." She adds in a teasing tone. "Here. Don't let your parents see this." She says, handing me a blackberry.

"Don't you need this?" I ask, but she shakes her head.

"I keep a spare for… friends in need." She says cryptically, and I wonder how many teenage girls she picks up in the middle of the night that she needs to keep spare phones.

"Thanks!" I say, climbing out of the car and scurrying toward the back of the house.

…

"Miss Grey."

I freeze in my tracks at the sound of Sanders' voice. I can see my bedroom door. I almost made it.

"Hey, Sandy!" I say cheerfully, turning around as if nothing is wrong.

"I thought you were in bed." He says, raising a brow.

"I was." I lie.

"Why are you dressed then?" He asks, crossing his arms.

"I was just about to step outside for some fresh air, but I forgot my jacket." I tell him, explaining why I'm heading toward my bedroom rather than down the stairs.

"I don't think Mr. Grey would approve of that. It's almost shift change, and as soon as Sawyer gets here, he's going to set the alarm for the night. You'd better head on back to your bedroom." He says, and I nod.

"All right. Maybe I'll just open a window." I say with a shrug, hurrying past him and into my bedroom. I sigh a breath of relief as I press my back against the door and grin at my ability to fool the 'highly trained security team'.

…

…


	2. Rae

Well, chapter one certainly had some mixed reviews, which I very much expected! For those of you who are worried about continuing with this story because you're afraid CJ will be Elena's sub—rest assured, that is the furthest thing from my mind! I hadn't even considered it. I know Christian was 15 when he and Elena had a relationship, but that was written in past tense, and I, personally, don't think I'd be comfortable writing an illegal affair like that in the present.

I'd also like to point out that this was only the first chapter, so those of you getting upset that Elena is the 'bad guy' in this story (as usual!), just relax. Trust me when I tell you that you will not see what I have planned coming! Have I ever steered you guys wrong?

In regard to the questions about the children, hopefully the next couple of chapters will answer them. I don't want to give too much away because that would just ruin the story, but your questions will ALL be answered in the story.

**Chapter Two – Rae:**

I grin, half asleep as Christian's hand slides over my hip and pauses, checking to see if I'm awake yet.

"You probably have very little time to accomplish what you're trying to start, Mr. Grey." I tease, feeling the warm sunlight flooding through the drapes over our bedroom window. It won't be long now until Rae comes barreling through the door demanding stories, and breakfast, and her father's attention.

"You would be very surprised at what I can get accomplished in such a short time, Mrs. Grey." He murmurs against the back of my neck.

"I'm well aware of your skill set, sir." I reply. I can't resist, and his guttural groan confirms what I knew would happen when I said that.

"Are you trying to tell me something, Mrs. Grey?" He asks, and I roll onto my back to look up at him.

"Maybe." I reply coyly, batting my eyelashes.

"It's been a mighty long time since we played." He says, and I bite my lip around a knowing smile. "Soon, baby." He whispers, as the door handle to our bedroom turns and our toddler comes tornadoing into the room.

"It's be wake up time, guys!" Rae shouts as she catapults herself onto our bed.

"Five more minutes." I beg, squeezing my eyes shut and hugging her to my body like a giant wiggling teddy bear.

"Helppppp!" She squeals, squirming in my arms. "Me hungry!" She grumbles, and Christian quickly stands, scooping her into his arms.

"What should I feed the monster this morning?" He asks, cradling her like an infant, her legs dangling and swinging over his elbow.

"Pizza!" She squeals, and I watch as Christian smiles his truly genuine smile.

"I don't think so." He says finally, shaking his head. "Today's specials include Eggs a la Mommy or Cereal a la Daddy." He adds.

"I want ball of mommy. Daddy needs to hug Rae!" She says as he readjusts her onto his hip, and she wraps her arms around his neck.

"What if mommy wants to hug Rae?" He asks, and her face goes serious as she stares up into his grey eyes.

"Mommy always hugs Rae. Daddy hugs work too much." She says softly, and I can see Christian fighting his emotions. Instead of breaking down, as he once would have, he hugs our baby girl tighter and grins.

"Daddy is going to spend ALL day hugging Rae." He proclaims as he carries her out of our bedroom.

* * *

It hurts to know that even my three year old notices that I work too much, though I'm glad she does. If she didn't notice, it would mean she didn't care whether I was home or not. She still notices because she still wants me attention, my company, unlike CJ, Eli, and Jaisyn.

I sit at the breakfast bar with her on my lap, waiting for Ana to come out of the bedroom and make breakfast. My little Rae of sunshine. She was my accidental miracle, whose existence came about at just the right time, when our family truly needed a beaming wonderful light..

Ana hadn't even told me she was pregnant until the accident. By then, she was nearly three months along.

… … …

"_Is he okay?" I hear her voice crack as she enters my study, her phone pressed to her ear. "I'll be there as soon as I can." She added before hanging up and staring at me, her eyes moist with unshed tears. _

"_What's wrong?" I ask, concern bubbling over as I stand and walk toward her. _

"_Ray was in an accident. He's been admitted to the hospital in Portland." She says, the tears finally falling as I pull her into my arms and kiss her hair. _

"_Taylor!" I call through my open door, cradling Ana close to my body. _

_He appears in the doorway and I give him instructions to have Charlie Tango ready to go in fifteen minutes from the helipad in the far quarter of our backyard. _

…

"_Your father is in critical condition, Mrs. Grey." The doctor explains, and I watch the colour rapidly drain from my wife's skin. "We're doing all that we can, but the prognosis isn't very good. I suggest that you and your family take this time to say goodbye." The doctor continues before nodding at me and walking away. _

"_Daddy." Ana murmurs, her voice nearly inaudible. _

"_Come." I say softly, taking her hand as we enter the ICU room. _

_I stand back, watching as Ana takes slow, hesitant steps toward her stepfather. She startles when the machine makes an unexpected sound, but she seems to recover quickly. _

"_Daddy?" She whispers, and I can hear the anguish her tone. "Ray?" She softly calls again, but he still doesn't respond. _

"_He's in a coma, baby." I remind her softly, not wanting to spook her. _

"_How did this happen?" She sobs, sitting down on the chair next to his bed. "This isn't supposed to happen." _

"_I'm going to go make a call." I tell her as she takes his motionless hand into hers. _

_I can't bear to see her this way, so broken and devastated. I've only seen her this pained once before: when we lost our son, our Boat Blip. She spent three days in bed, crying and refusing to eat, not to mention blaming herself. I can't bear to think that she'll be reduced to that sad person again. _

_She nods without looking at me before I finally turn and step into the hallway, leaving her to sit with her father._

"_What's your ETA?" I ask into my blackberry._

"_We're about twenty minutes out, Sir." Taylor replies, having taken Charlie Tango back to retrieve my mother and Carla. _

"_Good." I say, preparing to hang up._

"_Sir?" He asks, catching my attention._

"_What is it?" I ask, irritably. _

"_CJ is coming, too. She overheard the conversation with Mrs. Steele, and neither of them took no for an answer." He says, his voice sounding hesitant and uncomfortable. "Mrs. Steele insisted that CJ should be there for her grandfather. He, uh, she says he helped raise her for the first five years of her life, and she has every right to be by his side in his time of need."_

"_That's fine. Thank you." I say, unsure how I feel about my daughter being in this situation, but she's the most stubborn and persuasive twelve-year-old I've ever met. She could convince you to buy your own shirt from her._

_As I'm tucking my blackberry into my pocket, the sound of rapid beeping catches my attention, and I hurry back into the room to find a flurry of nurses tending to Ray, pushing my wife to the side as she looks on with horror. _

_I move to her side, pulling her to my body and turning her away from the scene. I feel her sobbing against my chest, and I recall when I stood in her position, devastated as she went into cardiac arrest seven years ago, when we first reunited. _

_She perks up, letting her puffy red eyes fall on Ray once more when the doctor announces that his pulse is back, but she doesn't move from my embrace. _

_I kiss her forehead, glad that Ray pulled through. Perhaps there will be hope for him after all._

"_I don't... uh, I don't feel…" Ana stammers, looking up into my eyes, beseeching me to understand what she's trying to articulate but can't. _

"_Ana?" I ask, concerned as she closes her eyes and her body wilts in my arms. "Ana!" I shout, cradling her limp form as I gently guide her to the floor. "I need some help!" I shout, though it's not necessary. _

_A doctor and a few nurses not tending to Ray hurry over and are checking her pulse. I can feel the panic bubbling up inside of me as I relive that day over and over in my head._

_..._

"_Sir, with all due respect, we don't know why your wife collapsed yet, and it isn't safe for our critical patients to be exposed to whatever she might have." The doctor explains to me, though I still haven't let them move Ana from the bed she's lying on, adjacent to Ray's. _

"_She fainted. This is a very stressful situation!" I shout, causing the woman to jump slightly. _

"_I'm fine, really." Ana insists, trying to get out of the bed._

"_Don't move." I growl at her. I instantly feel guilty because I sounded more menacing than I meant to, but it worked just the same. _

"_What's going on?" _

_I turn at the familiar sound of Dr. Grace's voice. She will know what to do. She can fix anything. _

"_Oh, Ray!" Carla cries, rushing to his side. _

"_Where's CJ?" I ask when neither she nor Taylor enter the room. _

"_In the hall. I wanted to assess the situation before bringing her in." My mother says. "Where's A— oh my!" She says, when her eyes fall on Anastasia lying in a bed with a heart monitor on. _

"_I fainted. I'm fine." She insists, trying to get up again._

"_I'm sorry, but you can't have this many visitors in here." The doctor I've been arguing with says. _

"_Excuse me, hello. I'm Dr. Grace Trevelyan. This is my daughter-in-law's father. I'd like to be briefed on his condition… and hers as well." She says, glancing briefly at Ana. _

"_Mrs. Grey is refusing any treatment. She insists she just felt light headed." The doctor says, eyeing Anastasia warily before turning back to my mother and going into great detail about Ray's injuries. _

"_I'm going to check on CJ." Ana says, getting off of the bed, despite the glare I throw at her. _

"_I'll join you." I mutter, wrapping my arm around her waist for support. _

"_Christian, really, I'm fine." She assures me as we walk out the door, but I can't take any chances. _

"_I'd feel better if you'd get an examination." I tell her, and I hope she realizes it's not a request. _

"_Is Pop Pop okay?!" CJ asks, slipping out of Taylor's embrace and rushing over to us, her arms wrapping tightly around my waist._

"_He's hurt very badly, baby." I murmur, stroking her hair. _

"_Do you want me to take you in to see him?" Ana asks, and CJ buries her face in my chest, shaking her head._

"_I want daddy to take me." She mutters, her words muffled by my shirt. _

"_Okay. I can take you." I assure her, hugging her a little tighter to reassure her. _

_As I open the door, my mother is coming out of the room with a chart. I glance briefly over my shoulder before the door closes and see her sit down in a chair next to Ana, her face looking somewhat concerned. _

"_Is he dead?" CJ asks, standing close to my side as we move into the ICU ward. _

"_No." I say simply because I really don't know what else to tell her. _

"_Is he going to die?" She asks, looking up at me with large grey eyes brimming with unshed tears. _

"_He's hurt very badly, and, at this juncture, they don't know if he will get better or not." I explain vaguely, not wanting to tell her that this man, whom she adores more than almost anyone else in this world, might not be around much longer. _

_Like he did for Ana, Raymond Steele stepped in and provided the father figure my daughter needed in the absence of her real father. He taught her how to throw a baseball and how to tie her shoes. He watched her take her first steps and heard her first words. This man, wasting away in the hospital bed, was the stability my wife and child needed in those years before they came back into my life. _

…

"_Remember that time we went to the house Aspen to go fishing, and you fell off the little boat and into the lake?" CJ whispers, leaning in close to Ray's still form. "I'm sorry that I laughed."_

_I want to tell her that he thought it was funny, too, but I don't want her to feel like her private moment is being violated. _

_I turn toward Ana when I hear someone call her name. It's a young doctor, carrying a clipboard._

"_We have your test results. I was hoping we could sit down and discuss them." The young doctor explains as I approach them._

"_I didn't authorize anybody to run any kind of test on me!" Ana says, nearly shouting at the young man. _

"_Your husband authorized the tests when you collapsed." He replies calmly, looking to me for assistance, but judging by the angry glare I'm receiving, my attempts won't help. _

"_You let them run tests on me? I fainted! Why is everyone so concerned with me? Ray is dying!" She shouts, startling everyone in the room. _

"_Mrs. Grey, please calm down." The doctor says and I place my hand on Ana's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Please, let's go somewhere to discuss this. Your baby's health depends on us taking immediate action."_

"_Baby?" I say with confusion. _

"_I'm pregnant." Ana says, in a monotone, even though it's not actually necessary. I understand completely what's going on right now._

_I immediately take action, instructing anyone around to get my wife into a room. In a flurry of action, all hands on deck sweep her out of the room and into one down the hall as I follow quickly behind her. _

_We sit silently, Ana in the hospital bed and me on its edge, as we listen to Grace explain what hypoglycemia is. I can tell that Ana is worried, though I'm not sure what is worrying her most: Ray, the baby, or how I'm going to react to her keeping this a secret once we're not surrounded by people. _

…

"_Hey." she mumbles, waking up for the third morning in a row in the hospital bed, the lull of the beeping machine quietly working away next to her. _

"_Hi." I reply quietly, and I know I'll have to tell her what's happened in a moment, but I want to grant her just a few more seconds free of agony. _

"_Is the baby okay?" She asks quickly as I stand from my chair and sit on the edge of the bed._

"_The baby is fine. You're blood sugar is completely under control now. They're talking about releasing you." I explain._

"_Ray?" She asks, and I can hear the pained crack in her voice. _

"_Ana, I'm so sorry." I whisper, kissing her forehead. "Ray passed about an hour ago. He went peacefully." I explain, knowing that no amount of words will help mend the breaking that her heart is enduring. _

… … …

"Morning." CJ's voice startles me from my thoughts as she sulks up to the dining room table and takes her seat.

It seems she always sulks. I don't recall seeing a smile on her face in a while, not a genuine one.

"Cwissy!" Rae squeals, jumping off of my lap and launching herself into CJ's.

"Hey, Sunshine." She says, hugging her baby sister.

It's always a wonder to me how her personality takes a complete turn when Rae is around. It makes sense though. She's always been close to Rae, and I have my suspicions as to why.

… … …

"_Do you wanna hold your baby sister?" Ana asks, grinning as CJ stands up on her tip-toes to look at the small bundle. _

_Without a word, CJ climbs into the bed next to Ana and poises her arms to receive the baby. _

"_I'm going to take good care of you. Nobody will ever hurt you, I promise. I'm going to teach you how to fish, and ride a bike, and all kinds of stuff that… that he would have. I'll be your best friend. Just like he was for me." She whispers, and I can see Ana holding her tears at bay. _

_It took several months after Ray's death for CJ to be her old, bubbly self again. Soon after we told the children about the baby and our plans to name him or her after Raymond Steele, CJ went out of her way to make sure that Ana had everything she needed. She even went so far as to bring Ana breakfast in bed several times a week to ensure that her blood sugar didn't bottom out. _

"_I love you, little Rae." She whispers, kissing the baby's soft forehead. _

… … …

"Are you ready to go?" Ana asks the entire living room, post breakfast, as she comes in with her bag and jacket slung over her arm.

"Just waiting on CJ." Eli replies dryly.

"CJ!" Ana hollers toward the stairs, receiving the generic 'Coming!' in return, even though we all know she's nowhere near ready.

"I have to go." I announce, glancing at my watch and rising from my chair.

"Don't go!" Rae shrieks as she runs toward me and wraps both arms and legs around my calf, sitting on my shoe.

"I have to go to work. Daddy has a meeting." I explain, staring down at the spitting image of my Ana's blue eyes.

"Come along, darling." Gail says, prying my toddler from my leg and lifting her up. "Give Daddy a kiss goodbye, now." She says softly, leaning toward me as I meet them halfway and place a kiss on Rae reluctant cheek.

"Love you." I murmur before kissing Ana quickly on my way past her and heading out the door.

I know they hate how much I work, and I'm well aware that I've been working far more than I ever have, but I have more mouths to feed than before. How can I rest knowing that I have Ana and the children relying on me to take care of them? Granted, Ana makes a decent living with her publishing company, but that's _her_ money. I would never allow her to spend a dime of what she makes on survival. It's my job to put food on the table, my job to keep the house standing and pay for the school fees and clothing for our ever growing brood.

It's my job to ensure that they will never know a single hardship as long as they live.


	3. Lovers and Friends

I'm getting overly excited because I've just finished some of the REALLY major scenes, and I want you guys to read them right now, but I can't post them out of sequence, obviously, and I don't want to post these earlier chapters too quickly and wind up with long waiting periods while I work on chapters. Oh the dilemma!

Anywhoooo, some of you have been wondering a) what ever happened to Alex Jacobs? & b) When will we see more of sweet CJ that we remember? Well, perhaps you'll enjoy this chapter!

Also, I compiled a file with images of people who I picture and feel like I'm describing when writing the characters, but apparently I can't post a chapter with images, so if anyone knows HOW to get around this, I would greatly appreciate it!

**Chapter 3 – Lovers and Friends:**

"Why is everyone staring at me?" I ask as my friend, Hilary, and I walk toward my locker.

"I don't know." She replies too quickly, and I stop.

"What do you know?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her until she flushes.

"I heard a few things…" She says, trailing off and looking anywhere but my face. "Things that happened with you and Bane Jessup." She mumbles, but I heard every word.

"Nothing happened with Bane and I." I clarify, glancing around as the whispers begin to increase. "Nothing happened!" I shout, glaring at the group of girls nearby.

"That's not what Bane says." Hilary replies, and I cross my arms across my chest. "He said that you put out after one beer, and that you're the cheapest and easiest date he's ever had." She explains, and I feel my face flush.

"Why didn't you tell me!?" I demand under my breath, yanking her arm toward our lockers.

"I was being a friend by not bringing up your embarrassing night!" She snaps back.

"I didn't… DO that." I whisper, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

"Everyone knows you've always been a target for the rumour mill because of your big shot daddy. We'll fix this." Hilary promises, grabbing my hand and quickly weaving us through the crowd to the stairwell at the end of the hall.

I crumble. I can't take it. It's like someone has just ripped out my heart. Not only was I rejected by the only guy I've ever been THIS into, but now the entire school thinks I'm a slut, who can't hold her liquor. Maybe part of that is true, but definitely not the slut part.

"Guys are stupid. This'll all pass over soon." Hilary assures me as we sit down on the floor under the dark stairwell.

"How can you be so sure? Everyone thinks I'm a cheap skank." I tell her, wiping my eyes with the heels of my hands.

"You're not a skank."

Hilary and I both look up toward the voice, and I'm shocked. I haven't spoken to Alex Jacobs in almost a year. Not since he changed.

"Thanks, Captain Interruptus, but I've got this." Hilary snaps, rolling her eyes before turning back to me.

"Yea, looks like you've got all this shit under control." Alex says, giving me a once over before walking away.

"Does he not realize that he's his own class of freak?" Hilary asks, giggling at her own joke.

"He hasn't always been so weird." I murmur, watching his retreating back disappear.

… … …

"_Check it out." Alex says, holding the telescope steady as I lean over it. _

"_You didn't put anything on this that'll turn my eye black, did you?" I ask, crossing my arms. _

"_Come on, Ceej." He grumbles, rolling his eyes at me. "You're going to miss it." He insists. _

"_Fiiiine." I mumble, pressing my eye to the ocular. "What am I looking at?" I ask, my voice muffled as it projects directly at the ground._

"_Just wait." He replies softly. "It's coming." _

_The sudden light show sends my jaw dropping with awe as I take into the meteor shower at, what feels like, close range. _

"_It's beautiful." I murmur, finally moving away from the telescope to view it the way Alex is viewing it, in widescreen._

"_Happy birthday." He says with a shrug, handing me a card with a giant number '13' on the front. I can tell he made it himself. No store could ever make a card with this much glitter, and Alex knows how much I love glitter. _

"_You're the best friend ever. I hope we do crazy birthday stuff like this until we're old and grey and have to drag our wheelchairs and IV poles out to check out meteor showers." I tell him, smiling so big that my cheeks hurt. _

"_By then, the star show will be boring." He explains. "We'll have to think of ways to top each year." _

"_Nah, we'll be friends so long, we'll go senile and have forgotten all the cool things we've done, and we can do them all over again." I giggle, leaning my head on his shoulder and gazing up at the sky again. _

_After a moment, I chance a look at his face through the corner of my eye. He's blushing profusely, even though we've spent substantial amount of time standing this close together over the years since we've been friends. _

"_Alex…" I whisper, afraid to break the spell by speaking any louder. _

"_Yea?" He whispers back, tilting his head, just enough to look at me from where my cheek is still resting on his shoulder. _

_Without another word, I tilt my chin up and brush my lips across his, feeling my entire face colour a pink hue that I'm sure matches the pink in his own cheeks. _

"_Ahem." _

_We both jump, the spell broken, when Taylor clears his throat and steps behind us. _

"_I should get you home, Alex." He says, and I shrug apologetically. Alex has always known that my parents run a tight ship. I'm so glad that hasn't deterred him from being the best friend - and future husband, if I play my cards right- that I've ever had._

…

"_How does 'Mrs. Christian Jacobs' sound?" I ask leaning over the crib to kiss my new baby sister goodnight. _

_She's already fast asleep, and I know she can't hear me, but I like talking to her. It makes me feel like, somewhere out there, my grandfather can hear me, and maybe I'm talking to him through baby Rae._

… … …

"Well he's weird now." Hilary says, bringing me back out of my thoughts. "I don't know about you, but I'd never be friends with a guy who wore more nail polish than I do." She laughs, pulling me to my feet. "We have to get to class before your goons come looking for you."

I nod, taking a deep breath and preparing to face the hallways once again.

…

"Shouldn't you be in school?" A familiar voice stops me as I stroll down the streets of downtown Seattle. Turning, I try to look contrite.

"Would you believe me if I said I had a P.A. Day?" I ask, tilting my head in a similar fashion as the blonde bombshell sitting casually in some kind of red sports car.

"Not in this lifetime." She says, raising a skeptical brow at me. "Get in. I'll give you a lift." She says, smirking at me.

"I don't actually know where I'm going. Things got a little tense at school, so I slipped out between classes." I admit, stepping toward Elena's car.

"Well, let's go grab lunch." She says, and I nod, walking around the car and climbing into the passenger seat. I toss my backpack into her backseat as she pulls away from the curb and merges into traffic.

"Is this about the boy from the other night?" She asks casually as we weave through the midday traffic.

"Yea." I say with a sigh.

"Wanna talk about it?" She asks, and I think for a long moment before I go into full detail of the rumours Bane started about me.

"That asshole." Elena growls, and it feels good to have someone on my side, agreeing with my opinion of Bane Jessup. "If a man ever treated me like that, it'd be the last thing he ever did." She adds, and I nod because, frankly, I believe her.

I stare out the window silently, watching the world pass as we drive along.

"Earth to Christian." I hear, snapping my head toward Elena's smiling face.

"Huh?" I ask, realizing that we've stopped in front of a café.

"Pardon." She corrects. "We're here." She continues, and I nod, climbing out of the car and following her through the doors.

I like watching her walk. She moves with such purpose, like she owns the street and everyone on it. It kind of reminds me of when my father enters a room at his office building, and everyone in it scrambles to look like they're the most busy person in the world, even though we all know they were probably doing nothing that even remotely related to their jobs.

I like it. Elena is a powerful woman. It's impressive. I'd like to be that powerful someday.

"So, were you able to get me my envelope back?" Elena asks casually as we sit down at the table.

"Not yet. I haven't had a chance to really look. I'll try tonight." I promise her as she nods and lifts up the menu.

"Do you know what you'll be having?" The young woman asks, standing next to our table with a notepad and a pencil.

It shocks me a little when Elena orders for both of us without even consulting me, though it's not a completely foreign action in my world. My father often orders for the entire family, but he knows who will eat what from where and how much of it they'll actually eat before deciding they want what someone else has.

"You know you can call or text me any time you need to talk." Elena says, staring directly into my eyes. "I'm here for you, okay?" She assures me, and I can't help but smile.

"Thanks. I really could use a friend." I admit, glancing down at my knotted fingers in my lap.

"It's hard being a Grey." She says as if she knows exactly how I feel. "Your father had a lot of issues trying to fit into the cookie cutter life his parents wanted for him as well." She explains.

"Yea, right." I scoff, and she glares at me briefly. "Sorry." I mumble, glancing back down. She's probably well aware that my dad doesn't take kindly to attitude. She's probably also well aware that he's given me the 'I-expect-you-to-behave-when-you're-in-public-because-you're-a-reflection-of-your-mother-and-I' speech a million times.

"Don't get lippy with me, missy. I won't stand for it." She says, her eyes more cold and devoid of any emotion than I've ever seen in anyone.

"Yes, ma'am." I murmur before averting my eyes and fiddling with the napkin.

"Listen, I'm just trying to help you. You're a good kid, I know you are, but the way you're acting is going to take you down a bad road. I won't see someone I care about fall into that hole." She says, drawing my attention back up to her face. This time, her eyes are warm and almost pleading. "Not again." She murmurs softly, and I wonder what she's referring to.

"Do you have kids?" I ask, curious if she lost one to this dark road she speaks of.

"No, no kids." She replies casually.

"A husband?" I inquire.

"I had a husband, years ago, but we divorced." She replies again in her casual tone as she busies herself with her blackberry.

"What happened?" I ask, now more curious than ever how a man could leave Elena. Even at her age, the woman is stunning.

"He found out I was cheating on him with a younger man." She explains, a smirk playing at her ruby lips. I'm not at all surprised that a younger man would fall for Elena.

"Was it serious?" I ask, leaning forward on the table. "With the younger man, I mean?"

"I loved him with all of my heart." She says with a sigh. "We grew apart, I guess. We remained friends for years after, but when we finally began to get close again, to rekindle that romance, someone else stepped in the way and won him over." She says, her voice bitter sounding. "Of course she broke his heart into a million pieces and, because I tried to help him, I was the bad person. It was all very messy, and he eventually took her back anyways."

"That sucks. I bet that woman is a total bitch." I say, crossing my arm at the complete injustice of the entire situation.

"Yes, well, that total bitch must have had something he wanted because they're still together to this day." She says, and her eyes look almost sad.

"You should steal him back. I bet you're ten times as pretty as that hag." I assure her, and her smiling response sends chills down my spine, as if she's in on some kind of secret that I don't know about.

"I don't think he'd let that happen." She says finally after a long stretch of silence. "Besides, I've got a little boy toy of my own now." She continues with a wink.

"You really like young guys, don't you?" I ask, teasing her.

"Oh, honey, you have no idea." She says. "You should try dating someone your own age, maybe even a year younger." She suggests. "It's the younger ones that are so eager to please, to make you happy because they fear you losing interest in them and moving on to more mature ventures." She explains.

"Boys my age are lame." I point out, and she shrugs.

"They're not all lame. I'm sure you've just not met the right one."

…

"Where have you been?"

I freeze at my locker from the exasperated sound of Sanders' voice.

"Bathroom?" I reply, not daring to look at him.

"For three hours?" He asks, and I can hear the irritation in his voice, so I turn, puppy eyes on full power and shrug.

"Sandy, please… don't tell my dad. I had to get out of this place. Everyone is talking about me because of some crazy rumour that could NEVER be true." I say, my voice going up several octaves as I speak until it's a high pitched whine.

He sighs, finally giving in to my sad expression.

"Just tell me before you leave. If anything were to happen to you, it'd be MY ass on the line." He says, and I smile, wrapping my arms around his stiff form.

"You're the best, Sandy!" I squeal before releasing him.

"Get your stuff ready to leave. I'll be back as soon as I collect your brother." He warns, and I nod vigorously, knowing I shouldn't push my luck by leaving without him and Lelliott.

…

"Hey." Lelliott says quietly as he sits beside me in the back of the Audi.

"Hey, Lelliott!" I beam. I always try to be happy around him because he's such a sullen kid. He's been this way since he found out where he really came from, that he was adopted.

Mom says it's preteen and teenage angst. Dad says he understands completely. Dr. Flynn says he's coming to terms with his situation in his way and that we should give him the space and time to process what his life was like and could have been like had our parents not adopted him.

It's funny, I'm supposed to mind my own business when it comes to these things, but I always wonder why nobody asks Lelliott what HE thinks of it all. I guess they must because during their little meetings in Dad's office, Lelliott, and occasionally Dad, storms out of the room in a huff and doesn't speak to anyone for the rest of the day.

I don't care _why_ Lelliott is so dark and down. I just want him to be okay. I'd do anything for him. I would probably even kill for him… if I wasn't busy pissing in my pants at the threat of a situation that warranted having to kill someone for my little brother.

"Did you eat your lunch?" I ask, knowing he'll be in trouble if he gets home and Mom finds his uneaten lunch still in his bag.

"Yea." He replies, staring out the window.

"All of it?" I inquire, and he grunts in response. "Did you buy something?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.

"My lunch is gone, all right?" He snaps, glaring at me as we pull away from the school. I roll my eyes at the side of his turned head.

"Whatever." I mumble.

"Looks like it's going to storm." Sanders says from the front seat, trying to break the tense silence.

* * *

Ana is going to be pissed that I'm an hour later than I promised. I'm hoping she'll just assume traffic was bad because of the rain, but my wife is smarter than that. She knows I'm trying to close a deal with a new company.

My heart racing as I swerve, I slam on my breaks, just barely missing the person walking on the side of the road. He's damn lucky I didn't kill him. Who the hell walks down a rainy shoulder in the dark wearing all black?

"Are fucking crazy?!" I shout through my window, blasting my headlights in his startled face. "Alex?" I ask, recognizing the young man as CJ's friend.

"Mr. Grey?" He replies, confused and disoriented.

"What are you doing out here? Where's your driver?" I ask, leaning over to open the passenger door for him.

He shrugs, not answering my question as he climbs into my car.

"Where are your parents?" I ask, waiting for him to buckle up before I pull out into traffic again. When he doesn't reply, I glance at him. He's staring at his hands, picking black nail polish chips from his finger nails. "Do you still live over on Maple Crescent?" I inquire, making my way in that direction.

"No. We moved." He replies softly.

"Where to?" I ask, and he sighs heavily.

"Downtown. My mom and I have an apartment." He replies reluctantly, and I'm shocked. His parents have always been quite wealthy. How they ended up in a downtown apartment is beyond me.

"I haven't seen you around in a while." I point out, changing the subject. "You should come over soon for dinner. I'm sure CJ would love it."

"We're not really… she's… popular." He says, giving me an incredulous expression.

"She's been your best friend since you were six. No amount of high school politics can change that." I point out, but he doesn't seem to be listening. "You should come to dinner tonight." I inform him as I detour back toward my place. "Ana will be delighted to see you again. I'll drive you home after dinner."

He turns toward me, nodding gratefully, and I can't help but wonder if he was going home to a cold empty apartment with no dinner.

…

As we enter the house, I remove my jacket and give Alex a once over.

"I'll go grab you something dry to wear. You can clean up in the powder room there." I tell him, pointing to the small bathroom just before the foyer opens up into the house.

I head upstairs to my bedroom in search of something for Alex to wear, and smile as I open the door.

"My, Mrs. Grey, you are a mighty fine sight." I murmur with a grin, but she doesn't change her position. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of yoga, but her ass is in the air and she's grinning at me from between her knees, so I don't actually care what it is she's doing, just as long as she doesn't move.

"You're late." She says, standing upright just as I place my hands on her hips and press myself against her.

"I'm sorry." I whisper, wrapping my arms around her stomach from behind, preventing her from stepping away from me. "You smell so good."

"Mhmm." She replies, obviously not believing me.

"I actually ran into CJ's friend, Alex." I say, changing to a more serious tone. "He was walking home in the pouring rain." I explain.

"Where was his driver?" She asks, pulling off her sweaty workout tank top and tossing it at the laundry hamper.

"I don't know. He didn't say, but apparently he and his mother are living in a small apartment downtown." I continue, opening the top drawer of my dresser and fishing out a t-shirt and some sweat pants.

"That's so strange." Ana says, her eyes full of concern for this boy we basically watched grow up.

"Yea. Anyways, I brought home with me. He's in the powder room, so I'm going to take him these dry clothes." I tell her, kissing her cheek quickly before exiting the bedroom and leaving her to shower.

* * *

I sigh at the sound of knocking on my bedroom door, dreading the barrage of questions that usually follows, regardless of who is doing the knocking.

"CJ, we have company." My dad says through the door, and I roll my eyes.

"Coming." I reply, closing my book and climbing off of my bed, my favourite pink pajama pants dangling from my hips. I contemplate changing out of them before going downstairs, but on a weeknight, the company is probably just grandma and grandpa, or Aunt Kate and Uncle Elliott with the twins. Instead, I throw on an oversized hoodie that I stole from my dad's closet and exit my bedroom.

…

"Uhm… okay."I say awkwardly as I enter the family room to find Alex Jacobs sitting on the sofa next to Jaisyn, who's talking a mile a minute about everything she can possibly think of.

"Hey." He says, nodding and looking as if he feels equally awkward. I glance down at my clothes and flush, but realize quickly that he's seen me in worse states than this.

"Hey." I reply back, sitting down on the other end of the sofa.

"Alex is staying for dinner." My mom says as she enters the room with Rae on her hip.

"Cool." I reply slowly, unsure as to what's going on. "Can I talk to you?" I ask him, getting up from the couch and nodding toward the TV room.

"Sure." He says, shifting away from Jaisyn and following me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask in a harsh whisper, glancing at the doorway to ensure that prying eyes and ears aren't spying on us.

"Your dad invited me." He replies awkwardly, and I roll my eyes.

"You didn't tell him about what happened at school, right?" I ask, feeling a harsh blush cover my skin.

"I would never do that to you." He murmurs, looking down toward the floor. I follow his gaze and take in his appearance.

"What… what the hell are you wearing?" I ask, finally noticing that he's in loose grey sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"I was walking in the rain. My clothes were wet." He explains distractedly. "I should go. This is weird for you… and me as well." He says, moving toward the door.

"Why were you walking in the rain?" I inquire, knowing he has a completely competent driver.

"I'm gonna go, Ceej. I'll see you at school or something." He says and begins to turn toward the door.

"CJ?" I freeze, hearing my father's voice. He'll kill me if he knows that I made 'company' feel unwelcome. Without thinking, I grab Alex by the shoulders and press my lips firmly to his. I feel his shock for a brief moment, but he finally leans into the kiss. "CJ, are you two in…"

"Dad!" I shout, feigning shock.

"Mr. Grey." Alex says, his eyes wide as he looks fearfully at my father's face.

"Dinner's ready." My dad says, his eyes glaring from my face to Alex's and back again.

"Kay." I say, blushing as I grab Alex's hand and yank him through the door, past my angry father.

"You just signed my death warrant!" Alex snaps at me in a harsh whisper. I roll my eyes and shake free of his hand as we approach the dining room.

"You can sit here, Alex." My mother says, pulling a chair out between Rae's high chair and Jaisyn's chair.

"Thanks, Mrs. Grey." He murmurs, sitting down next to a very giggly Jaisyn.

"Anastasia." My dad says, startling everyone with his silent arrival. "A word."

_Shit._ I curse silently. This is going to be a problem. He very rarely calls mom by her full name. I'm not opposed to it. Frankly, I'd rather hear him call her 'Anastasia' instead of 'baby' or for the love of my ear drums, 'sexy'. Unfortunately, the full name can only mean a storm is coming.

"Excuse me." My mother says, smiling at Alex once more before following my father into the other room.

I bite my lower lip and glance at Alex's fearful face. I shrug and whisper an apology at him as my parents' whispered voices flow almost inaudibly into the dining room.

* * *

"Mr. Grey, we have company." Ana whispers, though she leans against the wall and yanks on my tie, pulling me closer to her.

"I'm aware. This isn't a social call, Mrs. Grey." I tell her, one brow raised at her instant pout.

"And to what business do we need to attend?" She asks, letting my tie slip through her fingers.

"I caught Alex and CJ in the TV room just now." I explain quietly.

"Caught them? Doing what?" She asks, her innocence never ceasing to amaze and appall me all at once.

"Ana…" I groan, steeling my eyes into hers until understanding dawns on her face.

"Were they clothed?" She asks casually, and I nod slowly.

"He would be dead if they weren't, and not sitting next to my ten year old." I tell her, and I hope she knows I'm completely serious.

"Christian, this is a good thing. Alex is a good kid. You like him, remember?" She points, out, smoothing a nonexistent wrinkle from my shirt.

"I don't want them together unchaperoned again." I tell her, staring into her eyes and daring her to challenge my decree.

"So bossy." She mumbles, rolling her eyes at me.

"You're lucky I'm hungry, wench, or I'd haul you off to my lair of torture for my own pleasurable version of pillage and plunder." I whisper, staring intently into her blue eyes.

"Don't tease me, Sir. I can't bear such an empty promise." She sighs dramatically, but I know there's truth in her words.

"Soon." I whisper, giving her a quick peck on her cheek before ushering her back into the dining room.

I stifle a grin and pretend to ignore the children all straightening in their chairs and ceasing their whispered chatter as I help Ana into her chair, kissing the top of her head before walking to the other end of the table to sit in my own seat.

"No Gail and Taylor?" I ask casually, noting the two empty seats. Occasionally, Sophie is here as well, though she's just turned twenty and is caught up in her own life.

"They were meeting Sophie's new boyfriend for dinner." Ana replies, putting food onto Rae and Jaisyn's plates before handing them back to our youngest girls.

"Don't want this." Rae says, taking a fistful of mashed sweet potato and dropping it on the table next to her plate.

"Ramona Grey." I say, my voice as stern as I can keep it with my baby.

"You want it?" She asks, obviously oblivious to the faux pas as her siblings giggle.

"No, thank you. Please, use your spoon." I tell her, pointing to the untouched utensil on her napkin as Ana wrangles the messy hand and cleans it off before Rae can touch anything else.

"So, Alex, how are you doing?" Ana asks casually, breaking the moment of silence.

"I'm good thanks." The boy says with a nod. "How's the publishing company?" He asks. At least he's polite. I've always liked that about him.

"Very busy." Ana laughs. "I love it, though. My assistant quit, so I've been working twice as much and trying to find someone to fill the position." She adds, lifting her wine glass to her lips.

"How is school going for you?" I ask him when the conversation begins to lull again.

"It's all right, sir." He replies. "And your business?"

I grin, he's not only being polite, he's deflecting.

"Same as always, I suppose." I retort. "What electives are you taking this semester?"

"I'm taking Visual Arts and Computer Animation." He replies casually before taking a hearty bite of his food. My eyes meet Ana's, and I can tell she's wondering the same thing that I am: When was the last time that Alex had eaten?

"Eli is taking art as well." Ana points out, breaking my gaze and smiling warmly at Alex.

"Yea, I know. My class does mentoring for his class once a week." Alex replies, and both Ana and I turn toward our son.

"Why didn't you mention that, sweetie?" Ana asks, smiling at him as he pushes his food around his plate and shrugs one of his shoulders.

"We're taking Eli to a gallery opening this weekend, some new trendy street artist. You should join us." I tell him.

"Oh, absolutely!" Ana exclaims. "Eli would love that, I'm sure, wouldn't you?" She asks, grinning at our son.

"That'd be cool." He replies, which is impressive considering how quiet he normally is.

"Alex?" Jaisyn speaks up, and I narrow my eyes at her as she, oblivious to my stare, bats her eyelashes at him. "Do you like soccer?"

"I'm not really into sports, but I don't mind watching soccer sometimes." He replies, and I make note of the further similarities between he and Eli.

"You think you'll come watch me play soccer sometime?" Jaisyn asks, and I want to roll my eyes.

"Alex has other things to do, Jaisyn." CJ pipes in, her voice sounding irritated.

"I don't mind. Let me know when your next few games are, and I'll try my best." He says, giving Jaisyn a half smile.

Jaisyn's beaming grin troubles me. She's far too young to have a crush.

...


	4. Pawns

I tried to find out how old Grace and Elena were in the books, but I don't think it's mentioned. I took a creative liberty and assumed that Elena was a little bit younger than Grace, probably only a couple of years, and that Grace was probably about 30 when she adopted Christian. This would make Grace about 58 in my first two stories, and approximately 68 in this one. Thus, I'm assuming Elena is about 63.

Some of you have been wondering about Elena… there will be a great deal of Elena in this chapter. I know we hate this she-devil, but it's necessary. For this violation of your minds, I shall post the next chapter as well.

Some people have also been wondering why Elena is even IN this story. I had one scene in my head, that this entire story stemmed from, which included Elena. I could have just written her into that one part, but then it would have been all 'where did SHE come from!?' so I needed to give her somewhat of a background part. I promise it will all make sense soon!

**Chapter Four – Pawns:**

I knock gently on my parents' bedroom door and pause a moment, ensuring that they're not in there before I walk in. I have cover: I need to borrow shoes.

I close the door behind me and glance around the room, dimly lit by the setting sun. _If I were an envelope, where would I be?_ I muse to myself, making a mental checklist of all the obvious places to check first.

I open the top drawer of my dad's dresser and move some of his socks around, feeling toward the back. _Nothing._ I sigh and move onto the next drawer, but it's got nothing but t-shirts in it. The following drawer holds only the most interesting collection of sweatpants… not.

After checking each and every one of my mother's dresser drawers and finding only new items that I'd like to borrow, I move toward the bed. I used to hide things under my bed, but I recently found a loose floorboard in my bedroom closet that has quite a bit of potential to keep the prying eyes of Jaisyn Grey off of my personal property.

I get down on my knees and peer under the bed into the darkness. Curiously, I reach in and pull out a box. Lifting the lid, I peer at the array of strange items and wonder why my parents would keep this junk. I hold the intricate mask up to my face for a moment before tossing it back in the box and lifting out deflated Mylar balloon in the shape of a helicopter. Beneath the balloon, lay a faded newspaper clipping, wrinkled and hard to read, though I can easily see that the couple in the photo is a younger version of my parents.

Realizing that this box is not at all what I'm looking for, I replace the lid and tuck it back under the bed where I found it. The last thing I need is for my parents to know that I was in here snooping around. My eyes fall on the bedside table. I plop onto the bed and open the drawer. I feel myself melt as I lay eyes on the large envelope. Lifting it out carefully, I hug it to my chest and lay back against the plush mattress behind me.

"_Tell me what you want."_

I hear my father's voice and start, wondering if he's home.

"_I want to do to you what you do to me."_

My mother's voice joins him and I realize that the television has come on. Have they been watching home videos in their bedroom? I sit up and turn around, looking for the remote that I must have laid on top of.

"_You want to tie me up and spank me?"_

I feel myself turn in slow motion as my jaw drops open and my eyes bulge out of my head.

"_I want to hand cuff you to the bed and—"_

With a squeal, I grab the remote and flick the power button as hard as I can as the realization of the nature of that 'home movie' hits me like a ton of bricks.

Not wanting to spend another second in their bedroom, I grab the envelope and run out of the room, closing the door behind me with a resounding slam. I hurry into my bedroom and close the door behind me, hoping that the sounds of my parents' voices will leave my head. I drop the envelope on my bed and go to my trusty floor board in search of the Blackberry that Elena gave me.

*GOT THE ENVELOPE.*

I stare at the screen, willing her to reply immediately.

*GREAT! I'M OUT OF TOWN FOR A FEW DAYS.  
I'LL PICK YOU AFTER SCHOOL ON FRIDAY*

She replies back, and I wonder if she's this bossy and domineering with everyone.

*GONNA CONVINCE DAD TO LET ME GO 2 THE SKOOL DANCE ON FRI. 10ISH WORK?*

When she answers with a simple 'YES' I suddenly feel bereft that the conversation is over. I like texting Elena. She's easy to talk to, and she makes me feel like I matter to someone.

*WHERE DID U GO OUT OF TOWN 2?*

I ask, initiating another conversation topic all together. After ten minutes of staring at the phone screen, wondering if she'll reply, I give up and stow it back in the floor board. She's probably busy, working or something. I don't even know exactly what it is she does, and I make a mental note to ask her.

* * *

"Like this?" He asks, and I grin as he kneels in front of me, his hair tousled and his eyes wide with curiosity.

"Yes. Lean forward. Rest your forearms on your thighs." I instruct, standing in front of him so that the only thing he can see it the shine of my black patent leather boots.

"God, this is so hot." He mumbles and I lean over him, tilting his chin up with my index finger.

"Do you remember what I told you when you agreed to try this? Do you remember the rules that you agreed to?" I ask him, knowing that training this boy will be a work of art, considering his 'top' tendencies in our previous encounters.

"Yes." He replies, swallowing nervously and nodding his head.

"Yes _what_?" I ask glaring into his eyes.

"Yes, Mistress." He replies quickly, and I reward him with a hard kiss before standing upright again. As I go about fastening a leather collar with silver stud embellishments to his neck, I recall how easily seduced he was, and how, in only a matter of weeks, I've been able to convert this bad boy into my own little pet.

… … …

"_Excuse me, would you mind giving me a hand?" I ask, tossing my hair over my shoulder and smiling softly. I may be in my early sixties, but the right combination of Botox, hair-dye, and visits to the gym has kept me looking amazing, if I do say so myself._

"_Yes, ma'am." The young man replies, and I narrow my eyes at him, though I'm sure he can't see that because of my dark sunglasses._

"_Darling, I'm far too lively to ever be called a ma'am, but I do appreciate such a polite boy." I point out, pushing my glasses onto my head as he lifts the large paper grocery bags out of my cart._

_I see him smirk a little before I turn and walk toward my car, swinging my hips provocatively as he follows me, my bags held in his somewhat muscular arms._

"_This is your car?" He asks, grinning as I pop the trunk of my Bugatti Veyron 16.4._

"_This is it." I say casually, knowing that I drive a car that would easily impress this teenage boy and any other teenage boys who might come my way. "It lacks trunk space, though." I point out as he places the bags in the small compartment._

"_Yea, but it sure is a sweet ride." He replies, closing the trunk and standing back to admire the car._

"_Well, maybe I'll give you a ride in it sometime." I tease, but I can tell that his interest is peaked._

"_Yea, right." He says, obviously not believing me._

"_I see you here all the time. You work hard. You deserve a treat." I point out, despite the fact that I've never once shopped at this grocery store._

"_It would be really cool." He replies, and I smile at him._

"_What time do you finish? I'll swing by and we can take a trip around the block." I tell him, leaning forward slightly on the closed trunk and providing him with ample view of my equally ample chest._

"_I'm done at four." He says hesitantly, glancing briefly at the exposed skin above my shirt before grinning at me. "I've got another job to go to though." He adds regretfully._

"_You have two jobs?" I ask in mock surprise. Frankly, I already know this, along with a plethora of other information about this boy. Unlike him, I don't talk to strangers._

"_Yea, it sucks, but I need the cash. I'm trying to move out of my mom's place as soon as I turn eighteen." He replies._

"_Eighteen?" I ask, allowing my face to look surprised. "I had you pegged for at least twenty." I watch him grin, but I respond with a slight pout. "I guess my offer is a little inappropriate then."_

"_It's just a ride in your car." He says, sounding almost desperate. "I promise, I'm not some immature teenage boy."_

"_I guess you're right. You seem like a good kid, too, and I could actually use a pair of strong hands around my house, if you're interested in some extra work." I point out._

"_I'd love the extra work." He says, and I open my mouth to reply, but I'm interrupted by what appears to be his manager._

"_BANE! THOSE CARTS AREN'T GOING TO BRING THEMSELVES IN!" The man in the bright green polo shouts from the automatic doors._

"_I've gotta get back to work. I, uh, I'll see you at four?" He asks, and I wink at him before climbing into my car and speeding out of the parking lot._

… … …

"Get dressed." I tell him, tossing his pants at him before walking out of my playroom, impressed with his endurance and his ability to take a good belting.

Walking into my bedroom, I pick up my Blackberry and see a text from CJ from hours ago. She's so clingy, but it works to my advantage to have wanting my attention.

*I'M AWAY WITH A FRIEND. EARLY WEEKEND AT THE SPA. ;) *

I fib in my reply. She doesn't need to know that I'm grooming her boyfriend into a decent person, and a doting companion who will eventually fall in love with me, as they all do.

*SOUND LIKE FUN! WISH U WERE IN TOWN.  
'RENTS ARE 2 HANG*

I smile at her response. It's like she thinks I'm a fifteen year old girl too.

*AND NOBODY IS BABYSITTING THEIR FULLY CAPABLE TEENAGE DAUGHTER?!*

I reply, hoping to reads the sarcasm in that sentence. I'm actually shocked that Christian left CJ unsupervised long enough for her to find the envelope for me.

*SECURITY IN THE OFFICE & AUNT GAIL IS HERE.  
LOL THE WARDEN WUD NVR LEAVE ME ALONE*

"What's so funny?" Bane asks, interrupting my thoughts.

"That's none of your concern." I reply coldly. "Go get the hot tub warmed up." I instruct him, and he nods awkwardly, as if he's not sure what to do with himself. He'll get used to it. He's a sub, not a boyfriend. He doesn't get to ask questions about my personal life.

I like it this way. I don't get involved emotionally. It's not messy this way, with the exception of Christian Grey, which was far more than just messy.

*GIVE YOUR FATHER A BREAK. HE'S OVER PROTECTIVE BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU*

I tell her with a roll of my eyes. There was a time when I didn't believe that Christian Grey was capable of loving another human being. That was before the she devil brainwashed him into thinking he was capable of a normal life. It will only take one moment for him to snap and revert back to his old ways, it's just a matter of time.

*I JST WISH I HAD A NORM. LIFE.  
Y DOES HE HAV 2B SO CONTROLLNIG?*

I frown, wondering how much of her father's history she knows. Frankly, I'd be surprised if Anastasia knew much of it. The Christian I knew wouldn't share something so dark with the people around him. His greatest fear is to be abandoned again. I laugh bitterly at the irony of our situation. He was the one to do the abandoning in our relationship.

*HE HAS HIS REASONS.  
ABOUT TO HOP INTO HOT TUB.  
TALK LATER.*

I tell her before switching my phone to silent and joining Bane out on the deck. I know the hot water always help ease my aching muscles after such a long excursion. Hopefully, it helps his as well. He's going to need to be limber to endure what I have planned for him later.

* * *

I'm tempted to look at what is inside the envelope, but after the sex tape fiasco, I'm somewhat nervous. I'm curious, though. How could whatever is in this package be related to that video? How would Elena have possession of something like THAT of my parents.

Giving in, I open the flap of the envelope and slip my fingers inside.

"CJ, dinner is ready." Aunt Gail says, opening my door just a crack and smiling warmly at me.

"I'll be right there." I say, tucking the envelope under my pillow and smiling back at her.

"Alex is here." She informs me with a wink before pulling my door closed and leaving me alone in my room once again.

"Alex?" I whisper to myself, wondering why he's here and why Gail had such an impish expression about it.

Regardless, I glance at my PJ bottoms and tank top and decide that if I want to scare him off, I'd better show less skin. I yank on an oversized t-shirt and head towards my bedroom door, glancing briefly at my pillow with pained curiosity.

* * *

"You go to school with the Greys, don't you?" I ask, leaning back against the headboard of the bed in my playroom. It's not as nice as the one at my house in Seattle, though I haven't spent much time at this house, and haven't decorated completely to my liking.

"Yea, I dated CJ Grey." He replies casually from his spot next to me on the bed as he flexes his cuffed hands.

"What was she like?" I ask, wondering his honest opinion.

"She was all right. Kind of a prude and not nearly as hot as you." He says and I smile. He's already so well trained.

"So she's a good girl, then?" I ask, wondering if her reputation for being the hellion I've heard so much about supersedes her.

"She skips class a lot and talks shit to the teachers, but she's not like other girls. She doesn't put out." He replies, and I nod, feeling a hint of pride that she's not the tramp that rumours have her pegged to be.

"So that rumour about her screwing your brains out in an apartment downtown, that wasn't true at all?" I ask, glaring at him.

"How… how'd you know about that?" He asks, looking genuinely confused.

"Did you or did you not tell people that she was some kind of slut, who got drunk and fucked you?" I ask, rising onto my knees and moving over him.

"My friends were hassling me about not scoring. I just made it up in the moment, and it got out of hand." He stammers.

"You've been a very bad boy, Bane." I tell him, smiling as I reach above his head and click the cuffs into one place tighter around his wrists. He flinches a little at the slight pinching of his skin, and I smirk at him. "You need to be punished, young man." I add, running my finger nail down the centre of his chest and watching as goosebumps form and his breathing becomes rapid with anticipation.

…

"How did you know about me and CJ?" He asks, sliding on his jeans.

"You don't get to ask me personal questions." I tell him sternly, lighting a cigarette. "Go to your room for the night. I'm done with you."

"Yes, Mistress." He murmurs, looking bereft, as he leaves my bedroom.

Once he's gone, I lift up my blackberry and check for any new messages from CJ.

*I THINK MY FAMILY IS TRYIN 2 FIX ME UP WITH AN OLD FRIEND… AWKWARD*

…

*WHATS IN THE ENVELOPE? DO I WANA LOOK? LOL*

…  
* I HAVEN'T BTW.*

…

*I'M BORED*

I sigh, making the decision to let her be for the evening and closing the messages. I'm not in the mood to discuss the latest teenie bopper trends or films right now, but I do need to assure she doesn't open that envelope.

*THE ENVELOPE IS JUST SOME PERSONAL INFORMATION.  
DON'T OPEN IT. I'D RATHER YOU DIDN'T SEE IT.  
I KNOW I CAN TRUST YOU.*

Her quick reply assuring me that she won't peek inside satisfies me for the night and I decide to turn in. I flick my blackberry to silent and roll over in the plush blankets, satisfied in all aspects of my life. I'm especially satisfied to have a potential mole in the Grey house. Christian owes me every aspect of his cushy life, and I intend to collect.


	5. Eli

I hope this makes up for all the Elena in the last chapter!

**Chapter Five – Eli:**

"How was the dinner last night?" Gail asks, entering the dining room with her cup of tea.

"It was dull, but I was being honoured, so I guess I had to be there." I reply honestly, making a silly face down at Rae where she's perched in my lap.

"Christian, The work you do is very honourable. You should be recognized for it." She points out, dropping a sugar cube into her tea.

"Milk?" I ask, changing the subject as I hand her the small porcelain milk jug that matches her tea cup. Frankly, I started the Coping Together group home for the children of addicts going through the program and getting clean. Flynn does the family therapy sessions, and these kids, most of them anyways, eventually get to go home with rehabilitated parents. I love that aspect of it. I'm not a fan of people throwing awards and dinners at me because I use my wealth to help people. It's called doing the right thing.

"Thank you." She says, pursing her lips as she pours. I can tell she's trying desperately not to smile.

"Can I ask you lovely adults in my life a little question?" CJ asks, strolling into the dining room just as Ana enters from the kitchen carrying a plate full of French toast.

"Good morning to you, too." I say, raising a brow at her outburst.

"Are you people trying to set me up with Alex Jacobs, or are you trying to add him to the collection…" She asks, trailing off as she plants her hands on her hips.

"I'm not interested in setting you up with anyone. Frankly, I'd like you to join a convent." I assure her. "And what collection would we be adding him to?" I add.

"Have you looked around? Your kid collection. Honestly, anymore, and you'll be rivaling Brangelina.

"What is a Brangelina?" I ask, quietly to Ana, who shrugs in response as she takes the seat next to me.

"Dad?" Eli speaks cautiously as he joins us, and I'm grateful for the interruption.

He's always cautious, as if he's afraid of everything. Given the situation he came from when we adopted him, I'm much happier with a son who quietly contemplates the world than a son who, like me, self destructed because he couldn't handle the world.

"Yes?" I ask, grinning at my boy as he takes a seat on the other side of me.

"I was wondering if it would be okay if I went to the school dance on Friday evening." He asks, his voice quiet and unsure as he looks down at his lap and toys with his knotted fingers.

It's an Ana trait. They both do it when they're feeling nervous and self conscious. Eli does it more often than I'd like. I wish he'd be more sure of himself, but he lets his small stature define him. At twelve years old, weighing about a hundred pounds, soaking wet, while the rest of his classmates are much leaner and playing sports, my son spends his time in his bedroom, drawing, writing and reading. He has a comic book collection that would bring a real aficionado to tears, though.

It surprises me that he wants to go to a school dance, though I try my best to hide it. I want him to step out of his shell, to fit in at school.

"Of course. I'll have Sanders chaperone and drive you." I tell him, hoping he'll soon look up and see how proud I am of him for stepping outside of the confines of his bedroom for an evening. "Do you have a date?" I ask with pride.

"Yes." He replies meekly. "Sort of. Not yet. I want her to be my date." He stammers, finally looking up at me with the wide blue eyes that are almost too large for his face.

"I'm sure she'll be delighted when you ask." I assure him, hoping to calm his nerves.

"I'm not so sure." He says, putting himself down immediately, as usual.

"Lelliott, Jenna Lewis would be stupid not to go to the dance with you." CJ pipes in, taking a bite of the toast on her plate.

"Who says it's Jenna!?" Eli snaps, a deep crimson creeping over his normally pale skin.

"A little birdie told me that you slipped a love poem in her locker." CJ teases, winking dramatically at him.

"It was a homework assignment." Eli grumbles, though I'm almost positive that he slipped a love poem into some girl's locker. He's sensitive that way. Ana thinks it's sweet and that we should nurture his softer side, but I'm not sure. I'm afraid of him being pushed around and perceived as some kind of sap… a submissive.

"It was kind of you to give Jenna her homework." Ana says, breaking the tension.

"Don't call me Lelliott." He mumbles under his breath, but his efforts are futile. CJ has always called him that, and I'm not sure she'll ever stop.

"Are you gonna kiss that girl, Eli?" Jaisyn asks, receiving a deadly glare from him.

"Lee-Liee." Rae sings out. Climbing off of my lap and walking over to her brother. "Don't kiss girls." She tells him, patting his leg and looking earnestly up at his blushing face.

"I'm not kissing anyone! Goddamnit! Why does it have to be such a big deal?!" He shouts, shoving his chair away from the table and storming out of the room.

"I'll go." I tell Ana, stilling her as she attempts to rise from her chair.

…

"Elliott?" I say, keeping my voice soft as I tap on his bedroom door and open it anyways when I receive no response. He's sitting at his drawing table, sketching something on a piece of paper, and I look over his shoulder. "A new piece?" I ask, breaking the long stretch of silence, but his only response is a soft nod.

I casually walk over to the far wall where he has several large canvases leaning, their painted fronts hidden from view. I begin flipping through them, admiring his work. He's quite amazing. My breath catches in my throat, and I stop flipping, carefully pulling one out of the stack.

"When did you do this one?" I ask, holding it at arm's length first and then placing it gingerly on his bed.

"Just finished a couple days ago." He replies in a monotone, glancing only briefly over his shoulder to see which painting I'm admiring.

"It's beautiful, Eli. You…" I pause, moved by the perfection I see and the love that is obviously reflected in his piece, from both the subject and the painter. "Has she seen it?" I ask, speechless as I practically gawk at the vision of Ana's face, smiling and gazing over her shoulder at something.

"No. She doesn't know I painted it." He says, continuing his sketch with his back to me.

"She didn't sit for this?" I ask, even more impressed.

"No. I just remembered something, so I painted it." He informs me, and my brow furrows as I examine the painting more thoroughly. "Something about her eyes, I guess. They made me think of a happy time, but I don't remember why I was happy, just that she looked like that, that her face was so…" He shrugs, as if he's as a loss for words, and I smile.

"I see that expression on her face whenever she talks about you and your sisters." I tell him, walking across the room to stand behind him as he continues to sketch something that I can't make out this early in the process.

He grunts in response, and I place my hand on his hair, ruffling the soft blonde mop.

"I want you to apologize to your mother and Gail later." I inform him. "For swearing." I add, though I'm sure he already knows why I want him to do it.

"Okay." He mutters simply, and I know he will because he almost always feels remorseful when he has an outburst like that in front of Ana.

"You know that we love you, Elliott, right? You know that we worry about you, and your sisters… they're a handful, but they love you too." I tell him, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"I know." He mutters, though I'm not convinced.

"Are you ready for school?" I ask him for lack of anything else to say.

"Yea." He replies softly.

"Come on. I'll drive you. We'll grab something to eat on the way." I say, rising from his bed and patting him on the back.

"I'm not hungry." He mutters, standing up and pushing his desk chair neatly under the table. He's always neat. Everything has a place, save for his paintings, which do have a place, however, that place is overflowing with older works.

Waiting for him to gather his books into his bag, I glance down at the painting of Ana once more, and smile.

"This really is beautiful, Eli." I tell him once more. "You should show this to your mother. I think she'd really love it."

He shrugs, and I sigh internally. My boy is complicated. I can actually pinpoint the moment that he went from the bright eyed boy to this sullen person with far too much weighing on his mind.

… … …

"_You've got a brain in your head and feet in your shoes…" I begin, sitting on the edge of Eli's bed as I read him his story._

"_Daddy?" He interrupts, staring up at me, his large, blue eyes boring into my soul. _

"_Yes?" I ask, smiling softly at him. _

"_Is Mommy a cracker?" He asks, his brow furrowing with confusion as he awaits my response. _

"_No, Mommy is a person." I inform, feeling equally confused. _

"_Is she my real Mommy?" He asks, and I sigh loudly. _

"_She's your mommy, and I'm your daddy." I tell him, deeming it unnecessary to get into the logistics of it all with my six year old. _

"_But I am apopted, right?" He asks, and I nod slowly, wondering where this line of questioning is going. _

"_Elliott, what's bothering you?" I ask, wanting to get to the bottom of this discussion. _

"_Timothy said that I'm apopted and my mommy is a cracker." He tells me, and I realize the term has been construed in his mind. For that, I'm glad, however, I'd love to wring this Timothy character's neck. _

"_Lelliott, Timothy is stupid." CJ says, walking into the room. I hadn't noticed her standing there, but she must have heard the entire conversation. "You're not adopted. Grandma gave you to Mommy and Daddy. You were a present." She explains, and he smiles slightly. "And if Timothy ever tells you different, I'll pound him!" She adds, slamming her fist into her palm._

"_All right, that's enough. Nobody will pound Timothy." I intervene, though I secretly love that CJ is so protective of her brother. He needs someone to be in his corner. He's always been so small and fragile. It's comforting to know that his sister is there for him, ready to pound a kid for telling Eli he's adopted. _

"_G'night, Lelliott." She says, leaning over to kiss his forehead. "Love you." She says, coming around to the other side of the bed to hug me. "G'night, Daddy." _

"_Goodnight, Princess." I murmur, kissing her wild hair. _

"_Goodnight, CC." Eli says quietly, snuggling back into his covers. _

…

"_Mr. Grey." The principal greets me, seeming nervous about having had to call me in about my normally well behaved children. _

"_Mr. Jameson." I reply cooly, walking past him and into his office where Elliott, CJ, Alex Jacobs, and two other boys are standing in a line in front of the principal's desk. _

"_Daddy!" CJ exclaims, and I raise a warning brow at her. My face softens when I see the rip in her jacket and one of her sneakers apparently missing in action. _

"_Who would like to tell me what happened?" I ask, glancing at all of the terrified faces. _

"_The parents of these three have yet to arrive, so we'd like to wait until they do before we all sit down and discuss this; however, your security officer advised us to call you immediately." Mr. Jameson says, stammering over his words. _

"_You're just lucky Sawyer was there." CJ mumbles, glaring at the boy next to her._

"_Christian." I warn quietly in a tone only my children, and perhaps Alex, will recognize. _

"_Why am I here? SHE bit me!" The tallest of the brood exclaims. _

"_You had it coming, porky!"CJ replies, shaking her fist and narrowing her eyes at him. _

"_You three, in the hall!" I say in a near shout as I point my fingers at Eli, CJ, and Alex. _

"_Mr. Grey, you can't actually take Alex Jacobs. His parents need to be here." Mr. Jameson says._

"_I know this boy personally. You said on the phone that none of them would tell you what happened. I'm going to find out." I inform him ushering them into the hallway toward a row of hard chairs. "Sit." I snap, watching them all clamber into the chairs. _

"_Daddy, those—"_

"_Silence!" I snap, cutting CJ off. "Elliott, what happened to you face?" I ask, just noticing the dirt smear across his cheek. _

_He shrugs, his blue eyes wide and frightened as he stares up at me. _

"_Christian?" I ask, looking to my daughter._

"_Those jerks were picking on Lelliott, so I kicked their butts into next Thursday." She says, crossing her arms defiantly. _

"_Alex?" I ask, turning my attention to him. He silently nods, obviously agreeing with CJ's story. _

"_They called Lelliott adopted and pushed him down. Then I came over and punched the big guy, Albert, in his tummy." CJ begins. "Then Alex went and told on us to Sawyer." She mutters, rolling her eyes. "Timothy pushed me down, so I threw my shoe at his big ugly face, and then Albert tackled me… that's when I bit him. I bit him HARD!" She brags, and I'm unsure what to even say to this. _

…

"_Are you going to let them out of their bedrooms for dinner?" Ana asks me as she places food on plates for the children. _

"_Yes." I mutter softly in response. _

"_Do you want to go get them?" She asks, and I grin. _

"_No. You go." I reply. "I want them to be very afraid when they come in here and have to sit at the dinner table with me." _

_Ana shakes her head, rolling her eyes at me, and I growl, low in my chest._

"_I don't spank my children, but if you do that again, I won't be so kind to you." I inform her, standing behind her and placing my hands firmly on her behind. _

"_Don't tease me, Sir. I can't take it." She murmurs, pressing herself further into my hands._

"_Who's teasing whom, Mrs. Grey?" I ask, kissing the back of her neck. _

"_You're teasing me." She sighs in response, turning to face me as I wrap my arms around her waist. _

"_Go collect your delinquents. I'll set the table. Jaisyn is in her room, too." I murmur, brushing my lips across hers briefly and giving her rear one last, longing squeeze before releasing her. _

"_Why is Jaisyn in her room?" Ana asks curiously as she moves around the counter toward the doorway. _

"_She said that it wasn't fair if CJ and Eli got to be grounded and she didn't." I reply, shaking my head. _

…

"_Daddy," Eli whispers, interrupting his story._

"_Yes, Eli?" I ask, knowing the line of questioning will be in regard to the brawl at school._

"_CC is a girl."He mutters, his brow furrowing. _

"_Yes…" I reply, waiting for him to elaborate._

"_She's not s'posed to beat up boys for me." He continues, looking genuinely upset. _

"_She's just protecting you, Eli. Your sister loves you." I explain, but his face looks troubled. _

"_I don't like it when she rescues me." He mutters, crossing his arms. "I can take care of myself."_

… … …

"How much would you like for your painting?" I ask as Eli slides into the front seat of my car.

"What?" He asks, looking perplexed as we pull out of the long driveway.

"How much will you sell me that painting for?" I ask again.

"You wanna buy my painting?" He asks, sounding more confused. "But… you're my dad." He points out.

"Yes, I am. I'm a very proud father at that. I'm also a business man, and a collector of artworks in which my lovely wife is the subject, especially by artists which I believe will be worth a great deal someday." I explain casually. "I'd like to own a piece of work done by THE Elliott Grey before he was The Artist, Elliott Grey." I risk a glance at him when he's silent, and I see that he's blushing.

"I'm not sure how much it's worth." He murmurs finally, and I realize he's been contemplating my offer. "Besides, I don't think I'll be some big famous artist. You'd better not waste your money."

"It's money. I can spend it how I choose." I inform him adamantly.

"You mean, as long as Mom says it's okay." He teases, and I'm glad my son's smile has returned, even if it is at my expense. I let him have that jab because, frankly, I don't think he'd want to know just how bossy his mother can get or how I can easily put her in her place, but I rather enjoy bossy Ana.

"Either way, I would like to buy this painting. Think about it, and give me a number." I instruct him, to which he grins.

"$300,000." He says, raising his brow at me.

"That sounds very reasonable for a piece as exquisite as that. Will you take a cheque?" I ask, keeping my face stoic and my eyes on the road.

"What?" He asks, his voice high and surprised.

"A cheque, a personal cheque." I clarify. "I could always just send you a money transfer into your trust account. You understand that it will be secure until you're eighteen, what it being such a large sum." I add, knowing damn well that's where the cheque will be going.

"Sure…" He says, staring at me in curious wonder.

"There, you've just sold your first painting. You are officially a working artist. I can't wait to display it in my office." I inform him, but he's seems to still be in shock as we pull into the drive-through of the Starbucks.

* * *

"Hey, Elliott." Jenna says, sitting down next to me at her work station.

"Hey." I reply, wishing my voice would just be a little louder and maybe a little less weak sounding.

"Are you going to the dance?" She asks, smiling at me, her braces glittering under the large overhead lighting as she turns from side to side on the wheely stool.

"I was thinking about it." I say, shrugging to seem as nonchalant about it as possible, but I feel my insides exploding like I swallowed a grenade that's just gone off mid-digestion.

"Have you found a date yet?" She asks casually.

_Yes, I have. How would you like to be the proud winner of one night with Eli Grey? There will dinner and dancing, and don't you dare forget the luxury ride in your choice of any one of my cars. _

"Uh, I, uhm, I was… uh—"

"All right, everyone. Settle down." The teacher interrupts me, and Jenna shrugs before turning her attention to Mrs. Laurentian.

I mentally kick myself for not being as suave out loud as I am in my head. Jenna probably doesn't like me that way anyways. She only talks to me because we sit next to each other in art class, which doesn't say much because we choose our seats on the first day, before we know what creeps we'll be stuck sitting next to for the rest of the semester.

Case in point: Rebecca Thomas, who sits at the desk to my left and places her retainer on her work station so she can chew gum in class. I wrote a poem once called 'Ode to Hand Sanitizer', but I didn't have the guts to leave it on her desk. My parents really stress being kind to others and not being a bully. I guess that poem was unnecessary, really, but she's gross, and I had to get it off my chest.

"Psst."

I turn toward the sound coming from Rebecca's direction and attempt a friendly smile, though I'm sure it comes across really awkward looking because I feel like she can read my thoughts and has just caught me thinking really mean things about her.

"Are you going to the dance on Friday?" She whispers, and I nod slowly. "You wanna go with me?" She asks, and I feel like I'm about to die a thousand deaths.

I open my mouth to reply, but Mrs. Laurentian appears, like an angel from the heavens above, behind our desks and clears her throat.

"If this isn't related to your project, this is the place to discuss it." She says, placing her hands on her hips.

I nod quickly, pulling out my supplies and giving Rebecca an apologetic shrug, but I secretly am not at all sorry. I'm so glad to get called out for talking in class right at that moment. It hits me like a ton of bricks, or the more enjoyable equivalent, that I have to find a way to ask Jenna to the dance without fumbling over my words and before the end of class when Rebecca can corner me and ask me for my answer.

I pull out my sketch pad and a fresh package of pencils and get to work on Operation: Ask Jenna Out.

"Is that your project?"

I jump at the sound of a familiar voice behind me. I hadn't noticed his shadow cast over my paper until now. Blushing, I turn my chair around and shrug.

"It looks good, but the shading under your eyes is off." Alex points out, picking up my pencil and showing me how to fix it.

"Thanks." I reply softly. "Do you think she'll like it?" I ask.

"It's a great piece, and you're a great kid. If she says 'no', it's her who's missing out." He says, and I can't help but wonder if he realizes that the same goes for him and my sister.

I guess it's not my place to pick sides. I really like Alex; he understands me and he's been like an older brother to me almost my entire life, but CJ is my sister. It's my job to take her side, no matter if she's wrong or not—which she is. I'm supposed to protect her, even if she does always end up protecting me, and subsequently embarrassing the crap out of me.

"Thanks." I reply, turning back to my drawing. "You staying in here to work on your sculpture during lunch?" I ask, knowing that this piece is worth 30% of his final grade in his art class.

"Yea, probably." He replies.

"Cool. Mind if I hang out too?" I ask, glancing up at him.

"Sure, maybe you can do some actual school work." He teases quietly, leaning over me so that nobody else can hear.

…

I glance up at the clock and, realizing that the bell is about to ring, close my sketch book so that nobody sees what I've been working on when they all begin to pack up.

"Hey, you were really quiet today." Jenna says as she carefully places her pencils into their respective slots in her kit.

"I guess I was just in the zone." I reply, hoping I'm not blushing too much.

"Guess so." She agrees. "What were you working on?" She asks, and I wonder if now is the right time.

_I've been drawing pictures of us dancing under the moon together. Your arms are wrapped around my neck and my hands are, respectively, perched on your hips, and we're both smiling because it's the best damn dance we've ever been to._

"I, uh, I drew this for you, actually." I reply, swallowing a lump in my throat as I pull the piece out of my book and hand it to her.

"Is this me?" She asks, her face lighting up as she smiles. "And… you?" She asks, glancing from my face to the drawing as if she's comparing features to confirm.

"Yea…" I murmur quietly. "I, uh, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me?" I ask quietly, unable to reach a normal volume with my voice for some strange reason.

She's too quiet. She's mortified and doesn't know what to say. I can just tell.

"I'd really like that." She whispers, grinning at me. "I'll see you in English?" She asks, tucking the piece into her portfolio.

_Save me a seat, baby. I'll be there._

"Yea." I say with a quick nod before she takes her stuff and leaves with everyone else.

"Smooth." Alex says once we're alone in the room, and I shoot him a glare as I pull out my actual project from the racks at the side of the class.

"That's really coming along." He says, looking at the painting.

"Yea, but I can't get the hands right." I mutter, scrutinizing my work. "Hey, I didn't tell you, I'm a real working artist now." I say, changing the subject of my current painting.

"Oh yea?" He asks, setting his unfinished pile of clay on the table across from me.

"Yea, I sold a painting this morning." I brag, and his smile is nothing but proud. "To my dad." I add, rolling my eyes.

"Hey, a sale is a sale. Congrats, little man." He says, and I grumble at the endearment, though it's something he's always called me. He at least has the respect not to do it front of anyone else.

"Yea, I guess." I reply. "Hey, you wanna split my lunch with me?" I ask, reaching into my back pack and pulling out my lunch bag.

"You know you really don't have to do that." He says, tilting his head at me.

"Shut up." I say, rolling the apple from my lunch bag across the table to him.

…

"Hey Lelliott!" CJ says as I climb in the car next to her.

"Don't call me that." I mutter, even though I know it's useless. She never listens.

"Did you ask Jenna to the dance?" She asks, and I'm not sure if she's being the supportive big sister or if she's about to tease me for the entire ride home.

I decide to ignore her, and shrug in response.

"Oh, come on!" She whines, grinning at me. "Did she say yes? It's because of your boyish good looks and charming demeanor." She gushes, and I can't force myself not to smile any longer.

"Yea, she said she'd go with me." I finally say, giving my crazy sister a break for once.

"You have to look SO good on Friday. Can I gel your hair?" She asks, going on and on about what I should wear. "I could give you a faux hawk!" She exclaims, grabbing my attention again.

"Uh, I don't think so." I reply, self consciously rubbing my hair down.

"You have great hair you know. You get that from Dad." She says, and I roll my eyes because we both know that I don't get anything from anyone in our family.

"I got it from some unknown woman, Christian." I mutter, but she doesn't seem to notice.

"Friday is going to be super fun!" She gushes, ignoring my comment completely.

I lean my head against the window, no longer interested in hearing what she's going to do to me to prepare me for the dance. She gets her great hair and her eyes from Dad. I look like someone else, someone who was terrible to me and to herself, someone nobody liked or cared enough about to help.


	6. The Envelope

I am SO sorry that it's been so long since the last update! I started back at school, and it's been much more difficult than I expected. I WILL finish this story, soon I hope, but I have a week off next month, so if it isn't done by then, I'll aim to finish it completely before I go back again.

Thanks so much to you all for the wonderful and insightful comments. I read every single thing you guys say about this story on the reviews and in my inbox. I try to reply to as many of you as I can, but time really gets away from me sometimes. ALSO: Those of you posting comments/questions as guests, I'd LOVE to reply to some of you, but I can't because you posted as a guest.

**Chapter Six: The Envelope**

"CJ, this is full of spelling errors." My mother tells me, handing me back my essay, which I felt didn't need her prying eyes, but she insisted on proofreading for me. I'm not exactly 'good' at writing essays… or math, or science or the culinary class I'm being forced to take because I skipped too many of my drama classes and got kicked out of it. I'm not all that good at anything, really. Not like Lelliott; he's great at art and writing, and Jaisyn, well she's a natural born athlete.

"Anastasia!" My dad calls as he enters the living room where my mother and I are sitting. "Did you take back your contract?" He asks, cocking an eyebrow at my mother.

"No. Why?" She asks, glancing briefly at the baby monitor on the table as it crackles for a moment.

"It's gone. I'm sure I left the envelope in my side table." He says, tapping his finger on his lip.

"You're going senile in your old age, Mr. Grey. You've probably just misplaced it." She replies, and I try to look like I'm reading over the edits my mother marked on my essay as I listen to them talk.

"I didn't move it, Anastasia." He says, and he reminds me a petulant teenager.

"I'll just print another copy." My mom tells him, and I can see her grinning at him through the corner of my eye.

"What did you lose, Daddy?" I ask, trying to sound casual.

"I didn't lose it." He says through clenched teeth as he sits on the sofa next to my mother. "It was a contract your mother asked me to go over and finalize with Grandpa regarding a new author."

"Where'd you have it last? Maybe someone else picked it up." I suggest, trying to control the hot blush I feel on my face.

"I left it in my bedside table. I'm sure of it." He says, rising from his seat and pacing the room. "You gave it to me in the envelope. I peeked at it for about ten minutes. I got a call that I had to take, so I tucked it back into the envelope and put it into the drawer, and I have not touched it since." He says, as if he's reliving those moments.

"Wow, that's pretty weird." I say, hopping up off the sofa. "I'm gonna go fix this now!" I add, waving my essay in the air as I hurry out of the room.

* * *

"Do we bore her?" Christian asks, watching as CJ makes a hasty escape from our discussion.

"Maybe you do. I'm a cool mom." I reply, reclining into the sofa and tucking my feet under me.

"I'm cool, too." He argues, and I roll my eyes dramatically.

"You're very lucky, Mrs. Grey." He whispers, his eyes dark and narrow.

"Why's that?" I ask, smiling up at him.

"Because if it weren't for my need to know what the hell happened to that contract," He starts, taking a step toward me and leaning over, his hands on the pack of the sofa imprisoning me. "I'd haul you over my knee and spank you until those eyes remained stationary in their appropriate position."

"Come on, I'll help you look for your envelope." I tell him, winking at him before ducking under his arms and jumping off of the sofa.

* * *

Sitting on my bed, I stare down at the small bundle of papers and shake my head. I should have known that whatever it is that's in Elena's envelope is too important to be left in my dad's drawer. Part of me wonders if it's even a good idea to return the envelope to her. She did try to use whatever was in it against my parents, and I know my parents would never do that to her. It's safe in their hands. Everything is always safe when my dad's around.

Picking up the blackberry that Elena gave me, I quickly fire off a text to her and tuck the papers under my pillow for safe keeping until I can drop them somewhere in the house for my dad to find.

*APPARENTLY GRABBED THE WRONG ENVELOPE*

I take a deep breath and wonder why I'm feeling so nervous about telling her this. It's not like she can DO anything to me. Although, when she reads my next message, she may have a desire to do something.

*I DNT THINK I SHOULD FIND THE REAL 1.  
I'M SURE ITS SAFE WHEREVR MY DAD PUT IT*

I assure her, waiting for her reply. After several minutes, I feel even more nervous. What if she's planning something? What if she's going to tell my parents that I've been skipping school and about that night she found me walking around drunk?

I'm startled when the blackberry rings, and Elena's picture shows up on the screen above the big INCOMING CALL.

"Mrs. Lincoln- Elena, hey…" I greet her hesitantly, but her response is lost when I hear my mother's voice.

"Elena? Elena Lincoln?!" She asks, walking into my room.

"Uhm, this is my room!" I say in a near shout, holding the phone to my chest as I recover from the start my mother's entrance gave me.

"Uhm, this is my house." She replies. "Where did you get that phone? What are you doing talking to her?" She asks and I notice my father standing in the doorway, his face pale and his eyes wide with what looks like it could be horror, but I don't understand why they're so upset. I don't like Alex Jacobs, but you don't see me forbidding them from inviting him over for dinner every night.

"Christian, how do you know Elena Lincoln?" My father asks finally, his voice low and seemingly devoid of any emotion.

"She's a friend!" I shout back, feeling like I'm on trial.

"Give me that." He says, reaching for the phone, and, for some reason, I'm afraid to argue about it. I hand him the blackberry and he holds it to his ear, obviously checking to see if she's still there. "If you ever come near my children again, I will end you." He says, his voice eerily calm. I watch as he presses the end call button and stares at the phone for a moment, and I wonder what he's going to do, but the moment is fleeting, and both my mother and I jump as he slams the blackberry against the corner of the wall several times.

"Did she—has she ever—" He stops, his stoic face crinkling as if he's trying to search for the right words, as if something is both frightening him and causing him pain, but I don't understand it.

My father is a complex man, and I know he has a painful history, but he never speaks of his time prior to his adoption. He says its insignificant, but I can tell, in times like right now, that whatever happened to him as a child still haunts him.

"CJ, sit down, please?" My mother says, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"What is going on?" I demand, crossing my arms and refusing to sit. "Elena is a nice old lady." I say, hoping that will make it seem like I've been doing charity work for the local elderly.

"No!" My dad shouts. "She's not!" His face contorts again, and I feel my chest constrict. I've never seem him this upset. Angry, yes, but never like this.

"CJ, if she hurt you or did anything that made you feel… uncomfortable, you can tell us." My mother says, and I raise a brow at her, silently asking her what the hell she's getting at.

"Did she touch you?" My dad asks, taking long strides across my room until he's mere inches from me.

"What? NO!" I shout, realizing what they're trying to ask me. "Ew!"

"Oh thank god." My mom sighs, exhaling a long breath.

"You're grounded. You're not going to school the rest of the week." My dad says before walking out of my room.

"What the hell!? I ask, staring at my mother in disbelief. "Doesn't he know that confining me to my bedroom is illegal?!"

"Christian, calm down." She says, and I want to scream.

"NO! I won't calm down! Tell HIM to calm down!" I shout, standing up and crossing my arms over my chest. "I was doing something nice, spending time with an old lady who has no friends and no family!" I add, hoping it will help my case, just a little.

"Mrs. Lincoln is alone for good reason. She's not a good person. She's dangerous." My mom explains, her voice calm and her face looking pained.

"Why? What did she do?" I ask, feeling tears welling in my eyes. I'm not sure why I'm so upset. I like Elena, but she's not someone I'd likely cry over.

"She hurt our family a very long time ago. She's been a thorn in our sides for years." She explains cryptically.

"What was in that envelope she brought here?" I ask, daring her to lie to me.

"How do you know about that?" She asks, her eyes wide with shock.

"I overheard you guys talking to her in Dad's office. Jaisyn did too." I explain, admitting that Jaisyn and I were eavesdropping that day that Elena came by to speak to my parents.

"She had information about something your father did when he was very young and making some very bad decisions. She thought she could use that information against him in order to blackmail him into giving her shares of his company." She says, and I feel nauseas.

I was going to help Elena hurt my father. I guess somewhere inside of me I knew she was up to something, but a bigger part of me wanted to believe that she was a good person, who was interested in what I thought and what I felt and what I had to say. I was just a pawn in her game.

"Don't you remember her?" She asks, and I shrug. Other than that day that she stopped by, I don't think I've ever seen her in my life. "Back when your father first met you?" She probes, and I try to remember those first few months.

I shake my head, unwilling to relive those days. My mother was dying and I was stuck in the penthouse with this cold and scary man who was supposed to be the father who didn't want me.

"She was one of the reasons that your dad didn't even know you existed, Christian. She played a very big part in keeping you away from him." She says, and I sit back down next to her. "She even tried to send you away when I was in the hospital." She adds, and I feel my heart clench as I remember something.

"She tried to send me to foster care while daddy was sleeping. She… told me I wasn't his daughter." I whisper, remembering that morning at the penthouse.

My mother nods, and I bite my lip, feeling both regret for falling into Elena's manipulation and grateful that I didn't give her the envelope she was looking for.

"I'm sorry." I whisper, swiping a tear from cheek. "I didn't know."

"I know." My mom whispers, pulling me into her arms. "It's not your fault. Elena is… she has ways of making things appear as one thing when they're actually the complete opposite. It's what she does." She says, and I wonder what else Elena has done to my parents.

* * *

"You have to let her go to school." Ana says as she climbs into bed next to me.

"No, I don't." I tell her, hoping my glare causes my words to fully penetrate her stubborn mind.

"Christian, she understands now. She doesn't want anything to do with Elena." She tells me, her tone placating, as if she's talking to an angry child.

"Anastasia, I said no." I tell her, ending the discussion by rolling over and flicking off my lamp.

"Well, I said yes. She's going to school tomorrow, whether you like it or not." She says, and I narrow my eyes at the darkness.

A part of me is turned on by her when she acts like this, but another part of me is completely infuriated by her objections to my instructions.

"What if she had…" I ask, feeling my chest restrict with pain and confusion as I remember what Elena did with me… to me.

"CJ says she didn't." Ana whispers back, and I know she's thinking the same thing.

"She could have." I reply, rolling over and wrapping my arms firmly around my wife and placing my cheek against her chest.

"But she didn't." Ana assures me, combing her fingers through my hair.

"What if we can never get rid of her?" I ask. "There is probably more where those photos came from. It doesn't matter how many loose floorboards we have in the boathouse, those pictures will always exist. That experience will always be there." I tell her, wishing my horrible past would start rearing its ugly head and causing my family pain.

"So we'll go tomorrow and burn those photos, and if more show up, we'll burn those too." She says. "You can never erase what you've been through, Christian, but you've made a beautiful life despite all of that. I am madly in love with the complex man that every moment of your life has formed you into." She says, and I know she means it.

* * *

"I hold my breath as I tiptoe away from my parents' bedroom door, hoping they don't hear me.

I had originally come to plead my case about going to school tomorrow morning, but their conversation stopped me cold, and something much more useful than school dropped into my lap. I know where the envelope is, and I know, sort of, what is inside of it: pictures, but of what?

…

"Just for today." My mom reassures me as she picks up her briefcase and kisses my cheek.

"We'll discuss it." My dad replies, giving her a pointed glare.

I shrug, putting too much cereal into my mouth, so they can't ask me any questions.

"Gail will be here today. You can help her with Rae." My mom adds before she and my father head out to work, leaving Gail, Rae, and I alone for the day, save for the housekeeper.

"I'm going to take Princess Buttercup and Wesley out to run around the backyard." I announce as I put my bowl in the sink and whistle for my dogs.

"All right. Stay in the yard." She says, her voice soft and warm, but I know it's not a request.

"Will do." I say with a grin as I step out onto the back porch, closing the door as soon as the dogs scurry out of it.

…

"CJ! Dinner!" My mother calls, and I angrily swipe my tears from my cheeks. She can't see me like this; all red faced and upset. She'll know something is wrong as soon as she sees me.

"I'll be down in a minute!" I call back, keeping my voice as steady as I can.

I quickly sit down in front of my mirror and apply my makeup as well as possible. My mother doesn't really wear much makeup, but I picked up a few tricks of the trade from Aunt Kate and Aunt Mia over the years.

As I stare in the mirror at my reflection, puffy-eyed and full of a combination of anger and pain, I vow to get back at the stupid bitch for everything she did to my dad. He was just a troubled kid. She had no right to hurt him, not like that.

She'll pay for what she did to him.


	7. Payback is a B-I-T-C-H

Okay, so I apologize AGAIN for all the delay. I realized that a major issue needed to be resolved before I could move forward, so I had to push the chapters I do have written further back to make room for this bit of story line. The BIG break keeps getting pushed away as well, but all of this background is needed to proceed with it. Anyways, here it is! I hope it appeases all of you die-hard Elena haters!

If you haven't seen my profile page: I'm getting really bogged down with school. This course load is SERIOUSLY kicking my butt. I feel like every time I finish an assignment, I've got another one coming in. I guess that's to be expected, but I'm taking more courses right now so that my third year won't be as hectic with my field placement.

I am completely off school from now until Mar. 2. They call it "reading week", but I'll definitely be using it as a writing week! ;)

I'll be posting another chapter either tonight or tomorrow. It is (as well as the next three are) already written, I just need to make small changes due to some of the changes I made in these earlier chapters. I'm finally caught back up on where I left off when I had to add a few chapters, so hopefully, I'll get a few posted this week while I'm off school!

**Chapter Seven – Payback is a B-I-T-C-H: **

"I'm glad you met with me." Elena says, and I smile, trying to keep my anger from my expression.

"My parents don't dictate my life. I do whatever I want." I say coolly, and she raises a brow at me, as if she doesn't buy that for a second. Frankly, I'm well aware of how wrong that statement is, and I'm just hoping that Eli's nosebleed situation at school keeps Sandy occupied for long enough.

"Glad to hear it." She replies as we climb out of her car and head toward the café.

"Oh! I forgot my sunglasses!" I say, turning around to open the car door again. "I'll meet you on the patio." I add, and she nods, heading into the café without me.

I open my bag slowly, waiting until she's completely out of sight before pulling the envelope out of my bag and carefully removing the photos. I frown, looking at the sad face, or what's left of it after I cut the top of my father's head off of all of the photos. His jaw is clenched in all of the photos, and his haunted, hollow eyes are burned into my head. They don't show much, but surely photos of an obviously young boy handcuffed and half naked is enough of an insinuation to point the police in the right direction.

Phase one in complete, and phase two will be taken care of as soon as I gag down coffee and a conversation with the enemy.

…

"Christian!" My mom calls from the tv room. "You have to see this!" She shouts again, and I bite my lip as I follow my father into the room where my mother is standing, her face pale and her mouth open slightly as she stares at the television.

"**Long-time socialite and seemingly philanthropic entrepreneur, Elena Lincoln, has been arrested this afternoon in what was a very public take down at a local country club. An anonymous tip leading to the discovery of, what police have said is very damning evidence in Lincoln's personal vehicle has led to a full search of her homes in both Seattle and New York City."** The news anchor says, and I see my father's face has become equally pale. **"Lincoln's legal representatives have issued no comments as to the nature of her arrest."**

"CJ…" My dad whispers, turning his head slowly toward me. "Are you sure she didn't…" He starts, and his face screws up in some unrecognizable anguish.

"What? No! I told you guys! We had coffee. We talked. She acted like a nice person." I explain. "Obviously, I misjudged her." I say, gesturing toward the television screen as an image of a high-heeled woman with a jacket over her head is walked toward a police car. "I thought she was a friend of yours. She was here talking to you guys." I add, knowing that comment will send them on the longest guilt trip of their lives.

"Where was Sanders?" My dad asks, his voice quiet and serious.

"Christian, this isn't Sanders' fault. He's not a babysitter. His job is to be on-call and close by." My mother points out, and I'm glad she remembers that that was our deal because, frankly, Sanders is always a little too on top of the ball for my liking.

…

"CJ, you've barely touched your food." My father points out, and I glance up from my untouched dinner at my family and their near-empty plates.

"I'm not really hungry." I explain weakly, dropping the fork I was toying with onto my plate.

"I'd like for you to eat something." He insists and I know it's not a suggestion. I'm also well aware that, if I refuse, an argument will ensue, but something inside of me wants a fight. I want to yell and break things.

"I'm not hungry." I mutter, rolling my eyes and pushing the plate away. I don't dare make eye contact with him. The sound of his utensils against his plate and the heavy sigh are enough to scare me, but the chair sliding across the floor as he gets up and leaves the table is new.

"Christian?" My mother murmurs, rising from her seat and following him into the living room.

"I'm worried about her Anastasia." I hear, only because I'm sitting closest to the living room doorway. "What if Elena hurt her? What if that's why she's not eating. She could have developed an eating disorder. I read about this. They feel like they can't control what's happening to them, so they control their eating habits or they… they engage in self-destructive behaviours."

I sigh, glancing briefly at Alex, sitting awkwardly across the table from me, and silently wish he wasn't here for this.

"I just want something gross and greasy." I whine. "I'm on my period!" I add, slumping down in my chair and wrapping my arms around myself.

I don't dare look at Alex or Lelliott, but they both choke slightly on their food and say nothing. My parents poke their heads back into the dining room and eye me suspiciously. I didn't lie completely, I am on my period, and this is the one and only time I've ever been grateful for that. My parents would know if I wasn't. I guess it's true what they say about timing being everything.

"You want something else?" My father asks, his face looking hopeful.

"I want, like, twelve cheeseburgers." I murmur, grinning at him from my chair and feeling relief as his face lightens.

"Twelve?" He asks, his own face breaking out in a grin.

"Maybe just one." I reply, shrugging one shoulder.

He pulls out his blackberry and presses a button before holding the phone to his ear only briefly. His employees know to pick up on the first ring.

"Sawyer, I need a cheeseburger." He says quickly before ending the call and sliding his phone back into his pocket.

I wish I could say I wasn't surprised by my father's actions, but I kind of am. If he only knew I wasn't hungry at all and that I just asked for the burger to appease him, he'd probably explode, but I'd rather force down a cheeseburger than listen to him gripe about wasting food.

"I'll wrap this up for you to have when you're feeling better." He says, picking my plate up off the table and taking it into the kitchen.

* * *

"What have you heard?" I ask my father as Ana sets a cup of coffee on the table in front of him and sits down to him in the extra chair in my office.

"I'm retired, Christian, my pull isn't as good as it once was, but there are still some senior officers that know and respect me enough to give me intel." He replies, and I nod, hoping that Barney can come up with something as well.

"What exactly was she arrested for?" Ana asks nervously.

"Someone, a teenage boy, called the police. He said that Elena lured him to her home with the promise of doing odd jobs around her house and then made sexual passes. He confessed that the intercourse was consensual, but…" He pauses and clears his throat. "Other activities were forced. He said that she keeps photographs of other boys she's… abused… in her car and home." He says, and I can see that he's afraid to make eye contact with me, afraid to ask me.

"Who was the boy?" I ask, giving him a moment away from the thoughts circulating in his mind.

"His name is being kept under lock and key, so you keep this to yourself. He's a schoolmate of CJ's." My father explains, his face paling. "His name is Bane Jessup."

* * *

Sighing with relief, I slowly slink away from my father's office. Bane followed through with his part. I knew he had because Elena was arrested, but hearing it like that, it really helps my nerves. I guess I can call it even with him and delete the photos.

... … …

"_Are you feeling all right? You look ill." Elena says, touching my hand as she places her grande latte on the table. _

"_Actually, I feel a little queasy." I explain. "I think I'll go get some ice water." I say, looking at my coffee with deliberate disgust. _

_Rising from my chair slowly, I allow myself to waver only slightly before sitting back down. _

"_I'll get it. You sit tight." She says, and I try to contain my excitement over my flawless performance. Too bad Mr. Humphries, my drama teacher, couldn't have seen that. Talentless, my ass!_

_Reaching across the table, I grab Elena's blackberry and open the photos folder, glad that I have Aunt Gail and her old people quotes. A Tiger doesn't change its stripes, she told me recently when I considered asking Bane to the dance. She was right. _

_My eyes are met with photos of the very tiger Aunt Gail was talking about, and somehow, the universe is allowing the planets to align in my favour. I quickly send myself a few of the photos before replacing Elena's phone on the table and reassuming my sick act. _

…

"_You're going to do me a favour." I say, smiling at Bane as I sit next to him in the cafeteria._

"_Fat chance." He mutters back. _

"_Oh, I assure you, the chance is quite fat indeed." I tell him, taking out my phone casually and scrolling slowly through the photos of him in compromising positions. _

"_Where the hell did you get these?" He asks, and I quickly tuck my phone away._

"_It doesn't matter where I got them from. What really matter is who I might send them to." I tell him, narrowing my eyes as his entire face pales. "Like I said, you're going to do me a favour."_

… … …

* * *

"We're her parent's, Christian. We aren't her captors." Ana murmurs as she sits on the side of the bed to apply her body lotion.

"I just want to protect them, Ana. I want them safe." I reply, scrubbing my hand through my hair in frustration.

"They'll never know HOW to be safe if we keep them in steel cages." She counters, and I know, in my heart, that she's right, that I need to ease up, but I can't stand the thought of something horrible happening because I let them have too much freedom.

Lost in my own thoughts, I don't notice her movements until she's standing right in front of me, staring earnestly up into my eyes, her blue eyes boring into my entire being.

"Christian, you HAVE to relax a little. I need you." She says, placing her hand on my chest, above my heart, the same heart that nearly put me in an early grave last year. "You need to lay off a little."

"Ana, look at our track records. Do you blame me for being overprotective?" I ask, and sighs, resting her cheek against my chest. Instinctively, my arms wrap around her body and I hug her closer to me.

"Jack Hyde is dead." She murmurs, speaking a name we haven't said aloud in years. "You did your stalker routine when Danielle was released. She's in California." She adds, and I sigh heavily. "And Elena is in jail. We should just be thankful it wasn't our child. That poor boy has a lot of healing to do."

I know all of this. I know that my children are perfectly safe. With the exception of my somewhat slippery teenage daughter, nobody outside of my family and my staff have access to my children.

* * *

"Christian?" I whisper in the pitch darkness of our bedroom, but his breathing is steady and low. He's seeping. "I think you should retire. The combination of you working so hard and trying to be a good father is wearing you too thin." I murmur the words I've been trying to broach for a long time.

I know he's asleep and can't hear me, but saying them out loud helps.

"I just want you to be okay. I couldn't bear it if I lost you." I continue, remembering how frightened I'd been the entire way to the hospital.

… … …

"_Where is my security guard?" I ask my assistant, throwing my jacket on while I lock my office door._

"_I think he went to the restroom." She replies, her face screwing p as she notices how erratic my movements are in my rush. "Is everything okay, Mrs. Grey?" She asks._

"_No, my husband has been taken to the hospital. I have to go." I explain, hurrying toward the elevator as I make a mental check list of everything that could have gone wrong. Christian's assistant really wasn't much help. _

_All I know is that he collapsed during a meeting and taken to hospital via ambulance. _

…

"_Ana!" Taylor shouts before I can ask the woman sitting at the nurse's station where my husband is. _

"_What's happened?" I ask as Taylor envelops me in a firm hug. _

"_They think he may have had a heart attack. They're running tests now." He explains and choke back a sob. "He's all right now. You can see him." He assures me, and I pull away, composing myself and taking several deep breaths before following Taylor into the room._

"_Ana, you don't need to be here. I'm fine." Christian says as soon as he sees me. _

_I feel my lip tremble, and I try to force it to it still. _

"_You must be Mrs. Grey." The doctor interrupts, entering the room before I can respond. _

"_What's the prognosis, doctor…" I ask, looking for a name tag of some sort. _

"_Sorry, I'm Doctor James Franco. I trained under Dr. Trevelyan." He explains, and I nod, urging him to continue. "Your husband has suffered an acute myocardial infarction. This is more common with blockages and unhealthy eating, but thus far, we aren't convinced that that is the cause. It's rare, but about 3% of people experience this due to stress." He explains. "Your husband assures me that he leads a very relaxing lifestyle, so we're going to run some more tests to determine the cause." He adds, and I want to both roll my eyes and smack my husband. _

"_Thank you, Doctor." I say, dismissing him before turning my glare on Christian. "A very relaxing lifestyle? You lead a very relaxing lifestyle?" I ask, raising a challenging brow at him as he pulls out his vibrating blackberry from the pocket of his unbuttoned dress shirt. _

"_Ana…" He starts, but I point my finger in his face as my blood begins to boil._

"_You do not live a relaxing lifestyle. You stress over every minute detail of every single moment of the lives of me and the children. You work extremely long hours and have obligations at work, home, and the foundation. Christian, you need to make changes in your life… I need you to make changes." I tell him, feeling tears well up in my eyes at the very thought of waking up tomorrow without him. _

"_Okay." He agrees, and I wonder why that had been so easy. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given that he would move heaven and earth to appease me. "I will make some changes."_

… … …

"So much for those changes you promised." I murmur to his still sleeping form.

In reality, he let up moderately for a while, but eventually he went back full force and ended up working even more when a new deal with a Russian company came up and took forever to close.

Now, with CJ and her antics, this thing with Elena, and Eli's issues, on top of the work he does, his stress levels are through the roof. It's only a matter of time before he digs himself too deep. Retirement is the way to go for him, at least partial retirement anyways. His team can handle two or three days a week without him, and it's not as if we can't afford it, though trying to tell him that is a completely different story.

I'll just have to talk to him… when's he's awake.


	8. The Dance

Reader discretion is advised for some sweariness and shouty capitals! … and some kinky f**kery.

Sorry for the delay. I know I promised to post sooner, but I found out about an assignment that was due over the week off. (How does that even seem fair, right?) lol And also, summer internship applications are due mid-march, so I'm working on getting my resume and transcripts organized. Anywhooo, without further ado, here is the moment we've all been waiting for... well maybe only I've been waiting because I knew it was coming up, but if you knew, you'd have been waiting as well ;)

**Chapter Eight – The Dance:**

I hear myself groan, but I'm not sure if I've done it in my head or out loud. I don't actually care. The only thing I care about is making the sound screaming out of my alarm clock cease to exist. I reach over and, instead of carefully hitting the 'off' button, whack the alarm clock with my hand, sending the vile object flying across my bedroom. It did the trick though, and I've bought myself an extra ten minutes before my mom walks by my bedroom and realizes that I'm not up yet.

"Up and at 'em!" My mother's voice interrupts me, and I wonder how it could have possibly been ten minutes already.

"I'm up." I mumble, turning my face into my pillow as the light blinds me.

"If I don't see you downstairs by eight, there will be no dance for you." She says, and I sit up so fast that I'm almost certain I've left parts of me behind.

...

"Can I go to Hilary's house after the dance?" I ask, sitting down next to my father and sliding his half full coffee mug toward me.

"Why?" He asks, flipping the page of the newspaper with one hand and taking his coffee back with the other.

"Because we wanna hang out and talk about the dance." I explain, rolling my eyes for dramatic effect. It's not actually a lie. Hilary did invite some of the girls over to talk about the dance and wind down. I, however, have other plans that don't include them.

"You're going to hang out and talk about the dance that you would just be coming out of?" He asks, raising a brow at me.

"Yea…" I say, wondering why it sounds so absurd to him.

"Why don't you just talk AT the dance?" He asks, and I sigh.

"Because we can't talk AT the dance ABOUT the dance." I whine, folding my arms on the surface of the table and allowing my head to flop onto them.

"It's a girl thing." My mother says, entering the dining room with her tea in one hand and Rae on her hip.

"I don't care what kind of thing it is. You're already staying out until ten to attend the dance. How late would you be at Hilary's?" He asks, and I feel like this is my perfect opportunity.

"We're going to sleep over. It's much safer than all of us dispersing at midnight, don't you think?" I ask, feeling a three-pointer growing on my score card.

"I don't like that idea. I'll pick you up and drive anyone else who needs to be home." He says, closing the paper and taking the final sip of his coffee before rising from his chair, grabbing his suit jacket and walking out of the dining room.

_So much for that three-pointer._

"Daddy! Wait! I wanna ride in with you!" I call, pushing my chair out from the table and following him toward the front foyer.

"What?" He asks, looking shocked.

"Can you drop me off this morning?" I ask, and he raises a questioning brow at me before glancing at his watch.

"I guess so, if you're ready to go right now." He says, and I realize he's obviously in a hurry. This could work to my advantage.

"I'm ready!" I say, grabbing my bag from beside the door and slinging it over my shoulder.

"Jacket." He mutters, pointing at the closet.

"Yes, sir!" I beam, opening the door and snatching my mother's new cropped leather jacket.

"She's going to kill you." My father murmurs with a smirk as we walk out the door toward his car.

"R8?" I ask, as he leads the way to his favourite car.

"You'd prefer the SUV?" He asks, and I grin.

"Nope! I like this car." I gush as he opens my door for me.

"So, to what to I owe this pleasure?" He asks as we pull out of the driveway.

"I just really wanted to talk to you about tonight." I say, keeping my voice quiet.

"I said you could go to your friend's house afterwards, Christian, what more do you want from me?" He asks, his eyes remaining on the road as we weave through traffic.

"It's just… it's embarrassing to be followed around school all day by Sanders, and it's even more embarrassing to have him at the school dance, and it's even MORE embarrassing to have to have my daddy pick me up from my friend's house because he doesn't trust me to be responsible enough to come home on my own or, god forbid, sleep over at my friend's house." I say, taking a deep breath and realizing I'd forgotten to breathe in the midst of my speech.

"CJ, it's not that I don't trust you, well, I mean, have you given me reason to trust you? That's beside the point though, your mother and I are affluent members of the community; people recognize us everywhere we go, and that can be both rewarding because of the work we do, and frightening because some people don't appreciate that and want to hurt us and our family. I'm not worried about you doing something wrong so much as someone doing something wrong to you." He explains, but honestly, it all sounds like "blah blah blah, you're a untrustworthy teenager, blah blah blah, I'm an overreacting, overprotective control freak."

"I didn't ask for this life." I mutter, angrily swiping a tear from my cheek.

I see him glance at me briefly before turning the steering wheel and speeding across three lanes of traffic. We pull into the back a gas station parking lot, and he turns the car off.

"Have you ever been hungry and unable to walk into the kitchen to find something readily available to you?" He asks, and I scrunch my face up, knowing where he's going with this.

"No." I mutter when I realize he's waiting for a verbal response.

"Have you ever been cold because your heat has been turned off or because you're waiting at a bus stop in the dead of winter without one of your $300 designer jackets?" He asks, pointing at the coat in my lap.

"No." I reply again, feeling the guilt begin to settle in.

"Have you ever gone without something that you needed, some basic necessity of survival?" He continues, but I get the picture.

"I get it. I have an amazing life full of material things like food and nice clothes and people who will drive me wherever I need to go." I reply, getting frustrated that he always pulls out the "you're lucky" cards on me. "You know what, though? There are some things in life that are more important to a person than having stupid jackets and cars!" I shout, realizing that I'm angry all of a sudden. "I would give ANYTHING to have the respect and trust from my father that Hilary has from her parents! They don't hound her every second of the day. They don't track her cell phone activity or use GPS to find out where she's been. If she says she was at the library, they just believe her because they TRUST her. I would give away EVERYTHING you throw at me for one freakin' day of knowing what it's like to be a NORMAL kid with parents who TRUST her."

"What the hell are you doing?" He asks as I whip off my seatbelt and fling the door open before climbing out of the car.

"I'm walking to school." I state adamantly, stalking toward the street.

"Get in the car." He says, his voice cold and emotionless. I don't dare look back at him as I continue to walk away. "Christian!" He says, catching up to me. "Get in the damn car!"He shouts, pointing toward his car.

"No!" I shout back, stopping and glaring at him.

"Get your ass in the car now, Christian. I won't tell you again." He says, his voice low and steady and his eyes glaring into mine.

"Make me." I challenge him, glaring back with an intensity that I hope rivals his own.

It shocks me when he grabs my arm, but as I gasp from shock and the slight ache, he quickly releases me, pulling his hand away as if he's just touched a hot stovetop.

"Fine, walk to school." He says, turning and stalking away from me, but I know that was far too easy.

"I HATE YOU!" I shout, but he doesn't turn around, or miss a single step.

I touch my arm, feeling it throb slightly as I watch him walk back to the car. As soon as he reaches it, I turn around, unwilling to make eye contact with him, and continue walking toward the sidewalk.

* * *

"FUCK!" I shout, pounding my fist against the steering wheel as I watch CJ walk away. "GOD DAMNIT!"

I don't know if I'm more angry at her for acting this way or myself for putting my hands on her. I reach into my pocket and dial Taylor's mobile number.

"Sir?" He replies, and I take a deep breath, pulling out of the parking lot and instructing him to track me and then take over my position of following CJ.

As I hang up with him, I dial the next number.

"I need to see you." I mutter as soon as I hear the line pick up, and I feel my chest tighten with fear and anger.

"Christian, I just got to work, what's wrong?" Ana asks, her voice laced with concern.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." I reply before hanging up and tossing my phone on the seat next to me, the seat that CJ should be sitting in.

…

As I walk through the doors of the Grey Publishing lobby, I see the receptionist jump to her feet quickly, her heels clicking against the marble floor as she tries to keep up with me.

"Good morning, Mr. Grey. We weren't expecting you. Can I get you some tea? Coffee?" She asks, and I dismiss her with a wave of my hand before pounding the button to call the elevator.

When I arrive on the executive floor, Ana is already standing by the elevators. Her receptionist must have informed her of my arrival.

"Christian, what's wrong?" She asks, as I place my hand on the small of her back and practically push her toward her office as she struggles to keep up with my long strides, her high-heeled feet clicking rapidly against the marble floors.

I take a deep breath as we arrive at her office, and I allow her to enter first before I follow her in and close the door, locking it behind us.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on? You're scaring me." She says, and I look into her pleading eyes, wide with fear.

"I just had a huge fight with CJ. She—we – I grabbed her." I stutter, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"What do you mean?" She asks, gesturing for me to sit down on the sofa.

"Fuck." I mutter, sitting on the edge of the couch and running both hands through my hair as she sits down next to me.

"Christian, look at me." She demands, and I turn to her, holding back the tears that are threatening to fall.

"She asked about sleeping over at Hilary's house and started comparing how we treat her to how Hilary's parents treat their daughter… Ana, I don't know what happened. One minute she was smiling and the next we were fighting in a fucking parking lot." I tell her. "She wouldn't get back into the damn car." I mutter as I reply the image of her fearful and pained expression when I grabbed her arm. "I hurt her." I whisper, ashamed of myself.

"Where is she now?" Ana asks, reaching toward me and brushing her thumb across my cheek.

"I left Taylor following her." I explain, shaking my head. "He texted me to tell me he picked her up a few minutes ago." I add.

"Okay." She says softly, and I wonder why she hasn't said anything else.

"She hates me, Anastasia." I whisper because I'm afraid to say the words any louder.

"She doesn't hate you." She replies immediately, but she doesn't know that. She didn't see CJ's face or hear those words. CJ meant what she said; I could tell.

"She—" I start, but Ana shakes her head, placing her index finger on my lips to silence me as she rises from her seat and walks over to her desk.

"Ashley, hold my calls, please." She says calmly into her phone before walking back over to stand in front of me.

Grabbing my face in both her hands, she leans over and kisses my lips, tracing the tip of her tongue over them before nipping my bottom lip with her teeth. I groan, opening my mouth to her probing tongue and place my hands on her hips.

As her lips leave mine, her hands slide down my cheeks to my neck, and she makes work of loosening my tie before slowly pulling it over my head. Her unwavering stare and the way she bites her lower lip as she gently places each of my hands through the loop and pulls it tight around my wrists.

I open my mouth to protest because, frankly, I want my hands all over her right now, but she shakes her head.

"You need to relinquish control once in a while, Mr. Grey." She whispers, using the tail of my tie to lift my hands above my head. "Don't move them." She adds, staring into my eyes and daring me to object.

She smiles when I nod in agreement, and I can feel my skin tingling with anticipation. We don't often do this, but the few times we've done a little role reversal have been some of the hottest sex we've had, which is saying a lot.

I watch as she turns her back to me and slowly lifts her charcoal pencil skirt up her thighs toward her waist, revealing first, the lacey tops of her black thigh highs, followed by the small black triangle of her thong. She hooks her thumbs into the tiny strings on her hips and slowly drags the garment downward, bending over at the waist to pull them all the way to her ankles and giving me ample view of her bare ass.

I want to reach out and touch it, to reacquaint myself with the perfect skin and smooth contours, but I resist the urge to move my hands. It may have been a long time since I was someone's submissive, but this is a type of control I'll never forget how to harness.

"Ana." I breathe as she turns and walks back toward me, her skirt bunched around her hips.

She kissing her teeth, tsk tsk tsk-ing at me as she gently shakes her head and straddles my lap.

"You have to be quiet, Mr. Grey." She whispers in my ear, her breath hot on my neck. "This is a place of business." She adds quietly before sucking my earlobe into her mouth.

I sigh with relief when she leans back on my lap and unzips my pants, but the relief is short lived.

"Don't come until I tell you." She whispers, taking me in her hand and lowering herself onto me.

…

"Well, don't you look thoroughly fucked." She says, adjusting her skirt while I sit on her sofa, still exposed and bound at the wrists.

"I feel it." I murmur in response.

"You need to relax." She says softly, stroking my cheek before reaching up and freeing my hands.

"What if something were to happen to them, Ana, god forbid, what if I eased up and something happened?" I ask, zipping myself back up and returning my tie to its rightful place.

"What if nothing ever happens to them, good or bad, because we've sheltered them from the world? Hidden them away in an ivory tower." She asks, stepping toward me. "Christian, don't you remember how lonely it was being locked away in Escala?" She murmurs, smooth my tie down my chest. "How sad and broken you were?" She continues, kissing my jaw.

"I don't have time for round two, Anastasia." I murmur, though I give myself the opportunity to smooth my hands down her hips.

"You won't get another round until your talk to your daughter and work this out in a reasonable manner." She whispers, her tone seductive but her words an honest threat.

I lean back to look at her face, and I'm shocked to see her raise a challenging brow at me, daring me to object or argue with her.

"When did you become such a bossy, domineering little thing?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her.

"I learned from the best." She says with a wink. "Now go to work. You can deal with CJ after school." She says, becoming all business and walking to the other side of her desk.

"I'll pick CJ and Eli up from school. Will you be able to collect Jaisyn, or shall I send a car?" I ask casually.

"I'll get her. See you at home?" She asks, smiling at me. I nod and lean over her desk, giving her a chaste peck on the cheek before exiting her office, bemused by what's just transpired.

* * *

"Hang that over the top of the top of the DJ booth." I instruct two girls carrying a large banner.

"I heard most of your dance committee took off early to get ready." Lelliott says, entering the gym from behind me.

"Yea. It won't help. Most of them are naturally just ugly." I mutter bitterly. I would have left early as well, but I'm the head of the dance committee, which means I don't have a choice. It's for the best anyways. I'd rather not be anywhere near my house right now.

"Can we help with anything?" He asks, and I grin at him, realizing Jenna is standing next to him.

"I could definitely use some help." I say with a smirk. "Why don't you two go blow up some of those balloons. There's a pump in the box on the stage." I say, pointing to a half dozen bags of silver and black balloons.

I watch them wander off to the other side of the gym, chatting to each other quietly as they open the plastic bags and pull out a handful of balloons. Jenna is super cute in a geeky artist sorta way. I think she is the perfect match for my little brother.

"I heard you guys needed a hand." Alex says, walking in hesitantly, and glancing from Lelliott to me and back again.

"Uhm…" I start, ready to tell him to take a hike, but he's right; we really do need a hand. "Yea, we could use some help." I admit.

"We're not THAT desperate." Hilary whispers from beside me, glaring at Alex.

"Yea, we kind of are." I tell her, looking at the barren gymnasium.

"Ugh. Fine." She mumbles. "You can get rid of all that trash over in the corner." She says, pointing to a pile of bags and packaging from decorations.

"Sure. Glad to help." Alex replies, and I want to laugh when he smiles and jogs over to the pile, grabbing some of the bags up with enthasium. He really is a good guy, despite the secrets and vagueness about why he spends so much time at our house these days. Not that I like him again or anything even remotely close to that. I just think he's not as creepy as everyone thinks. I also know he's hiding something, and I intend to use my curfew extension to find out.

…

"The gym looks great."

I freeze in my conversation with the DJ at the sound of a familiar voice, a voice I don't necessarily want to hear right now.

"I thought I'd bring you two home to get ready and grab dinner before the dance." He says, and I turn, realizing he's coming in peace… for now.

"I'm not hungry." I reply, more to be defiant than anything else.

"You're going to be out late, dancing, drinking sugar-filled sodas, you should eat." He says, but it sounds more like a suggestion than an order.

"There will be food here tonight." I reply, crossing my arms.

"All right, then." He replies, turning toward Lelliott. "Eli?" He asks, tilting his head to the side in that way that he does when he's proving a point.

"Sure." Lelliott says, tossing the last balloon behind him into the large net bag. "Jenna left about an hour ago to get ready. I told her I'd pick her up at seven." He tells our father as he grabs his back pack.

"Oh, Hilary, I just wanted to confirm with your parents that it's all right for Christian to sleep over tonight. Please, give them my card and have them call me sometime before the dance is over." He says, and I look at him in complete and utter shock.

"Sure." Hilary says, stepping toward him to accept the card he's pulled from his wallet for her.

"If I don't hear from them, I'll assume it's no longer the plan and arrange for a ride." He says, looking at me. I nod in response because I'm too shocked to say anything else.

"You should go home and change." Hilary murmurs. "I heard Bane was going to be here with that blonde girl from the Catholic school."

"Dad! I'm going to come home with you guys now and get ready!" I say, catching him before he and Lelliott leave.

I don't care if Bane is a creep and an asshole. I want him to know what he lost, and for that, I need to look stellar.

* * *

"Why is she wearing that dress?" Christian asks me as CJ comes down the stairs and does a twirl in the front foyer for us, her short, strapless, silver dress fanning out at the skirt. I'm always impressed with how well she can walk in heels. It took me forever to be that comfortable in them, but she seems to be naturally gifted. She must get that from her father.

"Where's Lelliott?" She asks, glancing around.

"He hasn't come down yet." I tell her, shaking my head in confusion.

"Eli! You're going to be late to pick up Jenna!" Christian calls up, but we get no response.

"I'll go see what's keeping him." Christian says, but CJ pats his chest, freezing him in his place.

"Let me handle this." She says, turning around and running back up the stairs, her heels clicking against the wood in rapid succession of each other.

* * *

"Lelliott… you almost ready?" I ask, knocking lightly on his door before opening it.

"I can't figure out which shirt to wear." He mumbles, standing in a pair of black dress pants and a white undershirt as he stares at three freshly pressed dress shirts and an array of neck ties.

"First of all, do you wanna look hot or do you wanna look like … Dad?" I ask, giving him a once over. He sighs, and tosses the tie in his hand onto his bed.

"I'm a loser, CJ! Jenna is gonna wish she never agreed to go with me." He grumbles.

"Chill out. Luckily for you, your big sister is a fashion expert!" I assure him, going to his closet and sifting through his wardrobe options.

I pull a pair of old jeans, that my mother would probably have thrown away by now if Lelliott ever wore them, and toss them onto the bed, followed by a black t-shirt.

"Put those on." I instruct him, turning around and covering my eyes with my hands.

"Okay." He mumbles after a moment, and I turn around.

"Perfect. Now, do you have any scissors?" I ask, pursing my lips as I examine his outfit.

…

"Tada!" I announce, grabbing my parents' attention as Lelliott comes down the stairs. "Oh! I almost forgot." I say, reaching into the closet and grabbing his leather jacket. "Put this on." I instruct him.

"Wow! Eli, you look… very cool." My mom says, her eyes wide with, what I'm assuming is, impressed shock. "They still say 'cool', right?" She asks my dad, who shrugs and shakes his head.

"Thanks." He says, averting his eyes and blushing slightly. "You don't think my hair looks weird?" He asks, self-consciously smoothing the gelled, rugged, just rolled out of bed style with his hand.

"It looks very rad." My dad says, nodding enthusiastically.

"Great, come here." I say, yanking him toward me by his hand. "Still have those scissors?" I ask, glancing down with pride at his new and improved, old pair of trashed jeans.

He nods, handing them to me, and I hear my parents gasp as I make rough scrapes and tears in his leather jacket. I glance up at them and grin.

"You think a bad boy has a brand-spanking new leather jacket? I don't think so. Bad boys live above and beyond the call of retail. They wear what they find in the dirty laundry hamper. He looks hot. You'll thank me later." I tell them, and I watch them smile for Lelliott's sake.

"Sanders is waiting in the car." My dad says finally, as if he's unsure what else to say.

"See you guys in the morning." I say, eyeing them suspiciously as I pick up my small overnight bag.

"Yes. In the morning. First thing. 5am." My father says, and my eyes widen. "Gotchya. I'll be there at eight." He says, grinning at me like he's just made the funniest joke in the world.

"Okay. Eight." I agree before hurrying out the door with Lelliott.

…

"CJ…" Lelliott says carefully, as if he's broaching a touchy topic.

"Yea?" I ask, trying to sound casual.

"Can you, just for tonight, try not to call me that stupid name?" He asks, and I grin.

"I promise you, ELI, I will not call you Lelliott tonight." I assure him, crossing my finger over my heart in an X pattern.

"Thanks." He says, smiling at me and taking a deep breath as the Audi pulls into Jenna's driveway.

"Goodluck!" I say, giving him a thumbs up as he climbs out of the car. "They grow up so fast, huh, Sandy?" I ask, grinning at Sanders in the rearview mirror as my brother makes his way up to the front door and rings the bell.

I watch as a large man answers the door and gives Lelliott a once over before calling to someone over his shoulder. It only takes a moment before Jenna appears in the doorway, dressed in a pink dress with a bell skirt and a black leather jacket. _The girl has taste. _

"I'll be dropping her off by 10:00, sir." Sanders says, his voice muffled, and I realize he's stepped out of the car and is standing at the end of the driveway.

I see Jenna's father nod and give Lelliott one last glare before they all head back toward the car. It's interesting to see a threatening father from the other side of things. I know Lelliott has only honest and pure intentions with Jenna. He's not a creep at all, but this man is silently threatening my little brother with a death stare I've seen my father give my male friends far too many times.

"Hey, Jenna!" I say brightly, hoping she feels welcome.

"Hi." She says, smiling briefly at me before turning her attention to Lelliott.

As they chatter, I start feeling like a third wheel and gaze out the window, wishing I had a date to flaunt in Bane's face.

…

"Hey." Alex says, startling me as I watch everyone dancing and enjoying themselves.

"Oh, hey." I say, smiling at him.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying the dance." He points out, and I nod.

"Yea, thanks for your help today." I reply, smiling up at him. Even with three inch heels, he still towers over me. There's something attractive about a tall guy. I've always been able to rest my cheek against Alex's chest when we hugged.

"No problem." He says, shrugging one shoulder. "Check out Little Man." He says, nodding toward Lelliott and Jenna slow dancing at a respectable distance from each other.

I smile and sigh heavily, envious that my little brother has a date and my ex-boyfriend is here was some floozy that doesn't even go to this school, while I stand on the sidelines and pour punch into plastic cups to keep myself occupied.

"You look really great tonight, Ceej." Alex says, and I feel a blush creep over my skin.

"Thanks." I reply shyly, toying with my handbag. "Uh, do you wanna, maybe, dance, or something?" I ask, worrying, for the first time in my life, that Alex Jacobs might tell me 'no'.

"I'd love that." He says, stepping closer to me and offering me his hand.

"CJ!" Hilary gushes, rushing over to me just before Alex and I walk toward the dance floor. "Bane and his date just had a huge fight! Now's your chance!" She says, and I open my mouth to object, but Alex releases my hand, and I realize that I feel almost bereft without his hand around mine.

"Ceej… I'm gonna go." Alex murmurs.

"Good. Bye." Hilary says, rolling her eyes at him before turning back to me.

"Alex!" I call after him, but he's disappeared into the crowd on the dance floor.

"Really? You're slumming it with white trash, now?" She asks, and I shake my head, pushing past her to go find him.

As I weave through the crowd, I see my brother and Jenna sitting down on some benches against the wall and head toward them.

"Lelliott, have you seen Alex?" I ask, and, as if in slow motion, I watch his face go red and hear Jenna start to giggle.

"Did she call you Lelliott?" She asks, and I silently curse myself.

"Eli, I'm sorry. Have you—"

"Just shut up, CJ." He mutters, getting up and walking away.

"Jenna, I'm sorry. I'm gonna go fix this and bring him right back to you." I assure her, following after my brother.

"Where are you going?!" I shout as my brother takes off toward the doors.

"I'm leaving!" He shouts back, struggling to haul the heavy gymnasium doors open with his thin arms.

"Lelliott!" I call after him, and he stops, turning toward me and glaring.

"Stop calling me that!" He shouts before turning around again and marching down the darkened school hallway.

"Eli! I'm sorry!" I say, jogging to catch up to him. "I didn't mean to blow it for you." I tell him, but he won't listen.

"Just screw off, CJ!" He says, shoving me away from him and walking out the door toward the school parking lot.

I sigh, wondering if I should go after him or go back in and find Sandy. He's probably ready to call in the cavalry right now. I roll my eyes and push open the doors, intent on dragging my brother back into the dance and setting him up for the perfect first kiss.

"Let me go!"

"ELLIOTT!" I shout, running toward where a man, dressed in all black with a matching black ski mask, is gripping his arm.

"CJ!" He shouts back, his eyes wide and fearful.

It's like a dream, a déjà vu. We've been here before. We've been in this situation.

"Help!" I scream, but there's nobody around to hear me, so I move toward my brother and the man in black.

"Hey!" The man shouts, using his free hand to pull out a gun. "Not another move or he gets it." The man says, pressing the gun against Eli's side.

"Fine, go ahead and take him. I'm assuming this is for ransom, right?" I ask, trying to keep the waver out of me voice.

"Get her out of here." The man says, and I feel a shadow cast over me from behind.

"Well, I'm just saying that if you're trying to get Grey money out of Christian Grey, you should probably actually take a Grey." I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"What the hell is she talking about?" The masked man asks whoever is behind me. I want to look, but I can't take my eyes off of my baby brother's.

"Elliott isn't even my real brother. He's the bastard crack baby my parents took pity on and adopted. They didn't even want him, but he couldn't survive anywhere else. His foster families all hated him so much that he couldn't even thrive. Look how small he is!" I say, feeling knives stabbing into my heart with every word and silently praying that Eli knows I don't mean any of them. "He's not a Grey. He's no better than the stray dogs MY father and I adopted."

"Shut her up and get her in the van." The man holding Lelliott growls as a sharp pain shoots through my arm . I feel light headed and I fix my blurring on my brother, hoping he knows that I did this because I love him, because it's my JOB to protect him from all of the evil of the world.

"Lelliott…" I'm not sure if I'm speaking or if I'm thinking anymore, and I feel like I should scream, but I just want to sleep.

I feel myself being lifted, and I can hear someone calling my name as everything starts to go black.


	9. It Happened One Night

Ladies & Jellybeans! Boys & Germs! Step right up for the next chapter! I start school again on Monday, so the updates might be few and far between. In case I failed to mention this: my midterm marks were not at all impressing (with the exception of one class), so I will be cracking down. I'm off for Good Friday, so you can possibly expect the next update then, possibly sooner if I get some more writing done this weekend. Anyone else just wish you could download knowledge to your brain from iTunes or something and just skip all this 'school' business?

As always, comments/messages/reviews are so much appreciated, and I'd love to answer every single one of them, but to be honest, most of them come in while I'm asleep, and I forget to go back and reread/reply. I do read every single one of them and consider all of your suggestions and requests!

NOTE: This chapter WAS longer, but with Elena being arrested, I had to remove her part in this chapter. It was really good too. Ana punched her in the face :D, but alas, that bit didn't work anymore because I've made changes since I'd initially written this part.

…

**Chapter Nine – It Happened One Night:**

"Thanks so much. CJ is really looking forward to it." Ana says into the cordless phone as she enters our bedroom. "I'm sure they will." She says, obviously responding to something whoever is on the line has said. "Great, bye bye." She finishes before hanging up and placing the phone on the bedside table.

"Who was that?" I ask, tossing my shirt into the clothes hamper.

"Hilary's mother. She said the sleepover is perfectly fine, and the girls will not leave the house once they arrive." She informs me, and I nod.

"I'm still not okay with this, you know." I inform her and she smiles wryly at me.

"I know, and CJ's behaviour doesn't warrant a reward, but neither does yours. You both need to stop pushing each other so damn far and understand that there is a time to instill limits, and there is a time to just let it go." She says, changing out of her workout clothes, her hair tied back in a sweaty ponytail from her session with Claude.

"I don't have to like it." I reply petulantly, sitting on the bed and reaching for the TV remote. "I think I'll watch a movie." I mutter, reclining against the pillows in nothing but my suit pants.

"You know what's in there, right?" She asks, raising a challenging brow at me as she pulls on a pair of my sweatpants.

"Yes. I'm aware. It's an independent film, but the cinematography is beautiful and the cast is just… yar." I tell her, smirking at her unimpressed expression.

"You're going to finish without me?" She asks, cocking her head to the side. "I have to go put Rae back to bed."

"Baby, I never finish without you." I reply cheekily with a wink to which she blushes and purses her lips. I find it so endearing that I can still make her blush. "Besides, you finished watching it without me." I point out, flicking it on and seeing the DVD menu pop up.

"I did not!" She huffs with indignation, placing her hands on her hips.

"Did too!" I retort, mimicking her incredulous facial expression and placing my hands dramatically on my hips. "The DVD was on the end screen when I turned it on earlier." I tell her.

"Well maybe, in all the excitement, you forgot to hit pause on the DVD player, instead of just turning the TV off." She replies. "I wouldn't watch it without you." She says, crossing her arms as if she's making a point.

"I guess I'll just wait for you then." I reply, tossing the remote onto her side of the bed.

"Well okay then." She says, sticking her tongue out at me like a child before turning and walking out of the bedroom.

* * *

"This is my favourite part." Christian murmurs, nodding at the screen as we watch ourselves on a video we made together.

"I don't know…" I reply, tilting my head at my practically upside down digital self.

He looks like he has something smart to retort, but a knock on our bedroom door interrupts him and he pauses the video before flicking the screen off.

"Yes?" I ask, wondering which of my younger children are waiting on the other side of the door. My bet is on Jaisyn because Rae doesn't knock.

"Mommy, when will Elliott and CJ be home?" Jaisyn's muffled voice answers through the door, and I climb out of my bed to let her in.

"Hey, you should be fast asleep." I whisper, kissing the top of her head before ushering her over to the bed.

"But CJ and Elliott aren't even home yet." She replies, her face etched with a level of concern only Jaisyn can muster. She's always been a worrier.

"Well, they're older than you are, so they get to stay up later." I explain as she sits in front of me, and I toy with her braided pigtails.

"I want to go to the dance too." She mumbles, crossing her arms.

"I don't think so. You don't get to date until you're thirty." Christian teases, and Jaisyn sighs heavily.

"Can I sleep in here?" She asks, and I glance at Christian, who's eyes are pleading with me to say no because we've been interrupted the last three times we've tried to have some alone time.

"Honey, you don't need to sleep in here." I tell her, but her eyes grow large, and she blinks at me like a lost puppy. How can I say no to MY puppy?

"Or, you could sleep in CJ's bed." Christian jumps in before I lose all of my resolve. "She's sleeping over at her friend's house tonight, so she'll never know!" He adds, leaning in conspiratorially.

Jaisyn's grin tells us we're in the clear for tonight, and she jumps off of the bed, scurrying out the door, slamming it behind her.

"Eli should be home soon actually." I point out, looking at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

"Mhm." Christian agrees, stroking his lip. "So we should be fast." He adds, pushing me down onto the mattress and crawling over me with cat-like movements.

"Or, we should put this on hold for a few hours, so you can interrogate your son about his date and give me all the scoop!" I reply, giggling at him, and pushing on his chest.

"Ooh, yea, fight me." He whispers, leaning down to kiss my neck.

"What if I play dead?" I ask, going limp beneath him and closing my eyes.

"You're no fun." He grumbles, and I open one eye to look up at him. He grins down at me and moves back to his own side of the bed before

* * *

"You want some?" Ana asks, pouring tea into a china cup as I enter the kitchen.

"No thank you, baby." I murmur, hugging her from behind, gently so that I don't cause any spills. "I'm going to call and see how Sanders is doing." I tell her, inhaling her scent just once more before stepping away and pulling my Blackberry from my pocket.

"You mean you're going to check up on CJ." She taunts me, and I shrug, dialing the number.

"Sir." Sanders answers on the first ring. I like that.

"Sanders, how's the dance?" I ask, smirking at Ana. I really don't envy this man, having to deal with teenagers all evening.

"It's quite loud, sir. I just stepped outside for a moment." He replies, and I grin even more.

"And the children?" I ask. "Have CJ and her friend departed yet?"

"No sir, I just saw them having some punch, and I noted that Elliott and his date could use a moment alone. They seem to be getting very close." He informs me, and I note that he sounds very breathy and unnerved.

"Are you all right, Sanders? Do you need to be relieved?" I ask, taunting him, daring him to tell me he can't handle one night with a bunch of teenagers.

I actually don't mind Sanders. In a few years, he may be on the same level as Sawyer. He's good at what he does, and he's professional when he needs to be, and warm enough not to scare my younger children. He's had a few slips, but overall, I don't entirely hate him.

I end the call and turn to Ana, smiling at her, but she rolls her eyes.

"You're terrible, Mr. Grey." She informs me, and I shrug, sitting next to her at the dining table.

"He seemed very stressed." I point out casually.

"I'm sure he's just overwhelmed. I've been to a school dance, Christian. It's loud, it's crowded, and there is ALWAYS some girl who goes running to the bathroom, crying her face off over some stupid boy who pretended to like her and turned out just wanting to make some other girl jealous." Ana says, and I smile softly at her.

"Are you that girl?" I ask, reaching for her hand, but she pulls it away, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes.

"I never cried at a school dance, Christian Grey." She tells me, glaring into my eyes.

"Okay." I say, putting my hands up in surrender, dropping the topic entirely.

"Thank you." She mutters, stirring her tea with a small silver spoon.

"It was Bradley, your chemistry partner, wasn't it?" I ask, hiding my grin behind my hand.

"He was my physics partner, and he will never get to second base with me again!" She scolds, pointing a warning finger at me to drop it.

"I never went to a school dance." I tell her, shrugging one shoulder as I contemplate who I might have liked back then… other than Elena.

"They're not all they're cracked up to be." She scoffs, rising from her chair and perching herself on my lap. My arms instinctually wrap around her waist, clad in a short silk robe, and my chin rests on her shoulder.

"Oh?" I murmur in her ear.

"Nope. It feels all magical until someone wants you to take your pants off." She replies.

"Boys have always wanted in your panties, Mrs. Grey." I tell her, making fun of my once jealous statement.

"Ah, but I saved myself to be deflowered by the most beautiful boy there is." She says, turning in my arms and kissing my forehead.

I grin at her, feeling adored and cherished and lucky, but whatever thoughts I had are quickly lost when the phone rings. Ana rises to answer it, and I glance at the clock. The dance will be ending in twenty minutes.

I sit quietly, listening to Ana's short conversation before she gives me a questioning glance.

"What's that all about?" I ask, and she shrugs.

"That was Hilary's mother. Apparently, the girls all arrived, but CJ wasn't with them, and she wanted to make sure we knew she wasn't spending the night." Ana explains as I pull out my blackberry and dial Sanders.

"Sir?" He replies on the first ring, and I can hear loud music in the background. He must still be at the dance.

"Sanders, do you have eyes on CJ?" I ask, standing up and beginning to pace.

"Yes, sir. She's by the punch table right now." He replies and I nod to myself.

"And Eli?" I ask.

"Still sitting on the benches with his date." He informs me, seeming to yell over the music.

"Good. Why didn't CJ go to her sleepover party?" I ask, and listen as the man informs me of a fight between CJ and her friend about a boy.

"I told you. It's always a boy." Ana says once I've relayed the information to her. "I'll take CJ and you can take Eli when they get in. I want to hear about this boy!" She adds, narrowing her eyes.

…

"All right, calm yourselves. SIT!" I command Wesley and Buttercup as they yap and run toward the door.

"Are they home?" Ana asks, following me into the foyer with excitement. I can't help but roll my eyes at her, though I know she can't see it.

"Alex?!" I ask, concerned as the out-of-breath boy leans against the door frame. "Come in." I tell him, offering my hand to him as he enters and immediately its down on the bench in the foyer. Taking a quick inventory of him, it appears that he's just run here, a feat which would take him at least an hour, if not more.

"Alex, what happened? Are you all right?" Ana asks, sitting next to the boy as he shakes his head vigorously, desperately trying to catch his breath.

"Some-one… took them." He gasps, staring directly into my eyes as if he's beseeching me to comprehend his meaning.

"Took who, sweetie?" Ana asks, as every nightmare begins to flow through my brain.

"CJ and Eli." He replies as a tear rolls down his face. It's only then that I notice his shirt is ripped, and his lip has a semi dry split in it.

"Who took them? When?" Ana asks, and I can hear the panic in her voice as bile rises up in my throat.

Alex shakes his head in bewilderment as I whip out my phone and speed dial Sanders. I feel light headed as the machine picks up after three rings, and I dial again, receiving the same response.

"TAYLOR!" I shout, walking at first, but quickly taking on a fast paced jog as I head toward the security office. "TAYLOR!" I shout again as I reach the doorway.

"I need a location on Sanders NOW." I demand and he quickly gets to work, no questions asked. As he performs the search, I explain to him what Alex has told us, however little it may be.

"We have the location." He explains as he pounds the print button and rises from his chair, snatching the page from the printer tray as we move out of the office. I grab my keys, giving Ana, as she hugs a crying Alex, one last look before instructing Sawyer to stay here and handle everything from home.

* * *

"Drink this, dear." Gail says, entering the living room, where Alex and I have moved to sit on the sofa. Alex gratefully accepts the glass of water, drinking it liberally before placing it on the table in front of us.

"I tried to stop them, Mrs. Grey." He says again, looking earnestly into my eyes.

"This isn't your fault." Gail assures him, sitting down next to us.

"She's right. We're going to find them." I explain, but I wish I felt as confident as I sound.

I strain my ears as he buries his face in his hands and mumbles something.

"Pardon?" I ask, leaning over to look at his face.

"I love her." He says softly, his brow creased with anguish and fear. "I've loved her since I was six years old, and Eli is, as sad as it seems, he's my best friend, my only friend. You guys are my family. You're all I have, and if anything happens to them, I'll never forgive myself." He says, but it seems as if he's speaking more to himself than anyone else.

"Mr. Grey… Christian will find them, Alex. He will stop at nothing to find them. You need to be worried less about where they are, and more about how you're going to convince Christian to let you date our daughter." I say, feigning a smile to lighten his mood.

As a moment of silent contemplation overtakes the room, I wonder what Alex means when he says that we're all he has. I know times have hit his family rough, but surely his mother is still around. I'd convinced Christian not to pry, telling him that normal people allowed their friends to share their troubles in their own time, but now I wonder if we should have pried.

"Ana." Sawyer says quietly from the doorway, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Have you heard from—" I start as I stand and turn toward him, stopping myself as I see the precious cargo who is gripping to him koala style. "What are you doing awake?" I ask, reaching to take Rae from his arms.

"I want to play with Daddy!" She says, grinning as she bounces in my arms.

"Now is not the time for playing." I explain, holding her still. "I'm taking you back to bed right now." I tell her, watching painfully as her expression turns sad. "Come on. You can lay down here on the sofa." I compromise, setting her down and pulling the throw blanket from the back of the couch to cover her with.

* * *

"Why would he toss it in here?" I ask, pressing redial and jamming my blackberry between my shoulder and ear, so I can listen for Sanders' ringing phone while Taylor and I dig through the waist-deep trash we're standing in.

"I got it!" Taylor says, pulling his filth-coated arm from the depths of the rubbish, his rolled up sleeves as futile as my own as they, too, have become covered in old food.

Holding the phone tightly, he climbs from the dumpster first, and I quickly follow, hoisting myself up and hauling my legs over the top edge so that I can jump down to the pavement of the back alley we're in.

"It's been wiped." He says, handing me the phone. I glance at it briefly as rage begins to fill me, joining the sharp throbbing in my chest.

"Fuck!" I shout, whipping Sanders' abandoned Blackberry at the brick wall beside the dumpster we recovered it in.

"I think it's time to call the police." Taylor says, his face looking as worried as I feel. "We also need to consider the possibility that Sanders is dead and make efforts to locate his body." He adds.

As I reach into my pocket for my blackberry, it vibrates, indicating a new text. Looking at the screen, I see that it's from Sanders' personal line, which had previously been turned off, and I open it quickly. I feel my chest tighten, compressing from within like a boa constrictor as I read the message aloud.

* WWW . PAYFORGREY . COM *


	10. Jaisyn

I feel like I keep saying how sorry I am for the wait. I AM sorry. I just couldn't do anything about the long waits. The good news is that I'm on Summer vacation, so I'll have the time to write and post more frequently.

As for this next part, I suggest you re-read the last chapter (or at least skim) because this part picks up in the middle of that part. (You may recognize a scene or two from a different perspective.)

…

**Chapter Ten: Jaisyn**

"Mommy, when will Elliott and CJ be home?" I ask, pressing my face as close to the crack where the door meets the wall.

"Hey, you should be fast asleep." Mommy says. She opened the door pretty fast. I bet she wasn't even in bed. It's not fair that everyone else gets to stay up late.

"But CJ and Elliott aren't even home yet." I explain, wondering why everyone is so fine with them being out when it's night time.

"Well, they're older than you are, so they get to stay up later." Mommy says, but it still doesn't make sense. Mommy and Daddy are practically a hundred years old and THEY aren't out in the night time.

"I want to go to the dance too." I explain, wondering if they'll take me to see what all this fuss is about. CJ got to wear makeup and put on a pretty dress, and Eli got to rip his clothes with scissors. The last time I tried to cut clothes with scissors, Mommy's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"I don't think so. You don't get to date until you're thirty." Daddy says, but I know this already. I think he keeps saying it 'cause he doesn't believe me when I tell him I won't ever date.

"Can I sleep in here?" I ask, looking at the remote on the bed. I bet they're watching a movie or something.

"Honey, you don't need to sleep in here." Mommy says, and I know she's going to send me back to my room; I just know it!

"Or, you could sleep in CJ's bed." Daddy says, and I wonder if I heard him right. "She's sleeping over at her friend's house tonight, so she'll never know!" He adds, and, suddenly, going to bed doesn't sound half bad. CJ never lets me in her bedroom. I guess she doesn't really like me so much, but she's so cool. Her room is really cool too. She has stuff I can't have, like lipsticks and candles and pictures of her friends all over her bedroom walls.

…

When I open CJ's bedroom door, the room is dark, and I quickly stand on my tip-toes to flick on the light switch. I walk in slowly, wondering if it's all a dream that I actually have permission to be in here. What if CJ comes home and sees me in here? She'll be so mad, but I can just tell her that Daddy said I could, and she'd just have to deal with it.

As I sit down on the bed, I look around at all of her things. I pick up a book from her bedside table and open it, but most of the words are too big for me, but it makes me feel smart to look at it. I flip through a couple of pages as I walk around her room, pretending to be CJ. She's real smart. I bet she reads big books like this all the time.

I toss the book on the floor when something on the dresser catches me eyes. All of her makeup is on top of the dresser. It looks like she put it all on in hurry and just left everything wherever it fell. I'm not surprised. She always sleeps in way after Mommy and Daddy wake her up. She probably doesn't have any time to put it away after she's done.

I pick up a large black stick with a big fluffy thing on the end and rub it against my cheek. I've seen Mommy and CJ do this hundreds of times. It makes they're skin pink, but nothing happens when I rub it on my face. It's soft though, and I kind of like it. I pick up a few more items and examine them before I walk over to CJ's closet.

Her closet is much bigger than mine, and it's full of clothes and shoes. My closet has some clothes and shoes too, but not as many as CJ. I kneel down on the floor and take out a pair super high heeled shoes. They're a bright pink colour, and I can't imagine that they match anything in her closet. I remember her saying that fashion isn't about matching; it's about complementing. I wonder if that's what it means. If complementing means wearing something that doesn't match anything else you own, I think I will stick with matching.

I put the shoes back and pull out a black pair. They aren't as high, and I remember Mommy wearing them before when she went to a fancy dinner with Daddy for their kids with sick parents or without parents at all, who live in the special house they built. I don't get to go to THOSE parties either. Daddy always invites CJ to go, but she never does. She said she doesn't like to be around that place; it makes her too angry, but she never told me why. Mommy and Daddy must already know why 'cause they never make her explain.

I stand up slowly and slip my bare feet into the black shoes. They're pretty big for me, and my feet slide to the front. I take a couple of steps, testing out how they feel when I walk. I feel tall and older, like I'm 11 or 13 even!

As I pull out one of CJ's dresses, I wonder, again, what she would think about me being in her room. I know she doesn't like me in here. I don't think she really likes me at all.

* * *

"Ahem." I clear my throat, watching Jaisyn prance around CJ's bedroom in an expensive dress and high heeled shoes, her lips coated in thick red lipstick.

She freezes and stares up at me with her enormous Anastasia eyes before allowing a slow smile to grace her face.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" I ask, keeping my face as stoic as I can.

She nods vigorously, allowing the dress to fall off of her shoulders and stepping out of the heels before launching herself into the bed.

I smile, sitting down on the side of CJ's bed and reaching for a tissue from the box on her side table.

"You're far too small to be wearing such a bright shade of lipstick." I murmur as she tilts her chin to facilitate in the removal of the bright paste from her mouth.

"I like it." She beams, grinning at me with her still semi-stained lips.

"I know. That's what I'm afraid of." I reply, kissing her forehead before standing up and pulling back the covers. "I want you to be asleep when Mommy and I come back upstairs." I instruct her, knowing that Ana has probably already poured herself a cup of tea and is now waiting for me in the dining room.

"Okay, Daddy." She murmurs, rolling onto her side and snuggling into the pillows.

I glance around the room at the items strewn on the floor, and I wonder briefly if the entire mess is from Jaisyn, or if some of it was like this before she came in. Frankly, I'd rather not deal with the fight that will incur when CJ finds out that Jaisyn spent unchaperoned time in her bedroom.

CJ and Jaisyn have had a rough time getting along with one another. I suppose it's a sister thing. It's always been this way. I was never this way with Mia.

… … …

"_What happened?" I ask, walking into the living room upon hearing Jaisyn's wails. _

_CJ shrugs casually and turns back to her dolls, so I look to Eli, who promptly points at CJ. _

"_CC pinch Jaisyn." He whispers, receiving a glare from his older sister. _

"_Sellout." She grumbles, narrowing her eyes at her brother. _

"_Why did you pinch the baby?" I ask, gently rocking my newly turned one year old over my shoulder. _

"_I don't like her." She growls, gathering her dolls and leaving the room. _

"_Go to your room!" I holler, following her as she heads toward the stairs. _

"_I WAS GOING THERE ANYWAYS!" She shouts back, her voice carrying as she makes her way up the staircase. _

_It only takes a moment before the sound of a slamming door echoes down to where I'm standing with Jaisyn in my arms. _

_Flynn says it's completely normal for older siblings to be jealous and act out when a new baby arrives, but he never did give us a timeline as to when it would end. Jaisyn is a year old now, and for the last eight or nine months, CJ has been a bloody terror toward her. _

…

"_Do you want to talk about why you pinched your sister?" Ana asks as I stand outside the door. This is more her territory. CJ only gets angry when I interrogate her, and we usually end up fighting. For a six and a half year old, she really can throw some verbal punches. _

"_Nope." CJ replies to her mother, and I wonder how Ana will penetrate the wall of silence. _

"_Well, I'd like to know why." Ana replies, and I hear CJ's dramatic sigh. _

"_I don't want a baby sister." She mumbles, and I pray she's just being dramatic. I was ecstatic when we got Mia. _

"_Why not?" Ana asks, probing for a better response where I would have told CJ it was too tough and to deal with it. _

"_Because she's a little brat." She replies, and I'm shocked at how candid she can be sometimes. "Everyone wants to talk about the baby. Everyone likes to see pictures of the baby. Daddy always asks what's wrong with the baby when she cries, and he wants to feed her and take care of her, and he calls her his little princess." She says, her voice snarky, but I can hear the underlying pain that fuels her jealousy. _

_I wasn't there for her as a baby like I am for Jaisyn, and she feels that loss, that missing time. _

"_Your daddy loves you all very much, CJ." Ana says, obviously feeling helpless as to how we can possibly handle our situation. _

_We'll never be able to turn back time and relive those years, develop that bond we would have had if we'd been together. This conversation was progress though. I just hope, with time, CJ can understand that it's not her fault, nor is it Jaisyn's fault that we lost that time together. I wish she would cherish her sister. She has so much to teach and share with Jaisyn, so many experiences that Jaisyn will never have to live. _

_I shake my head at myself, realizing how much I'm expecting from my six year old. They'll be fine. They'll grow out of this rivalry stage eventually. _

… … …

* * *

"Why isn't the link working?!" Daddy yells as I stand quietly in the doorway, and I wonder what link he is talking about.

I woke up confused until I realized I was in my sister's bed. I heard yelling from downstairs and lots of voices, like there was a party, and nobody even bothered to wake me up or lay out a dress for me. RUDE!

"Sir?" Mr. Sawyer says, after noticing me. He gives me a little smile, but I don't think he means it because he's not smiling for real.

"WHAT?!" Daddy yells, and I hear high pitched squeal coming out of my mouth. Daddy never yells like that. His face is scary, but it seems to relax as soon as he sees me. "What are you doing up?" He asks, and I shrug, too terrified to move from my spot in the doorway of the dining room where everyone is gathered around computers and telephones. I don't see Mommy anywhere.

"Oh, darling, it's very late." Auntie Gail says, wrapping her arm around my shoulder to take me back to bed, but Daddy reaches for me, and I take the opportunity to avoid bed. I jump into his arms, and he squeezes me almost too tight.

"I'm not sleepy." I mumble against the side of his neck. It's scratchy, like he didn't shave for a million years.

"Sir, the website is up." Uncle Taylor says, trying to take me from Daddy's arms, but I tighten my grip around his neck. I don't want to go. I can tell that there is something wrong. Everyone seems upset.

"Anastasia." Daddy says, his voice is low and scary, like he wants to yell, but he's holding it in, probably 'cause he knows it scares me when he shouts.

"Come, baby." Mommy says, coming out of the kitchen and taking me from Daddy. She doesn't hold me for long before she puts me on my feet and leads me toward the living room. I guess, I'm too big for Mommy to carry around, but I do like it when Daddy carries me. I feel small, like a baby again, and safe. When Daddy carries me, I know nobody will hurt me.

"When are CJ and Eli coming home?" I ask, curling up onto the comfy seat of the sofa while Mommy covers me in the blanket.

"Soon." Mommy says, nodding softly, but she looks sad. Her eyes looks puffy and red, like she's been crying. GiGi says, crying is the body's way of making room for all of the emotions that are filling us up, so I wonder what emotions Mommy is having that she needs to cry.

"Are you sad?" I ask through a yawn, but Mommy just smiles and kisses my head before tucking me in tighter and leaving the room. I'll take that as a yes.

I close my eyes and try to focus on one of the voices coming from the other room, but they're all talking and shouting at each other at once. It's hard to understand what they're all upset about.

"MY CHILDREN ARE MISSING!" Daddy yells above the sound of everyone else, and suddenly my tummy hurts and I want to cry. CJ and Elliott didn't go to a dance! They must be lost somewhere. Maybe a bad person took them! My parents are always telling us if we go out at night time by ourselves bad people might take us.

Something inside of me makes me want to get up off the couch and run to their bedrooms, just to make sure they aren't really in there somewhere, that this isn't a weird trick.

…

"Eli?" I ask, opening his door and peering into the dark bedroom. The light from the hallway reveals his perfectly made bed and his clean room. He likes his things just so. He'd never leave anything out of place.

I make my way toward CJ's room. I know already I won't find her in here. I just came from this room. I would have known if she was in here too, but I open the door slowly and step in cautiously.

"CJ?" I whisper, walking further into the room, but she doesn't answer. I guess only a small part of me expected her to yell at me to get out.

Just as I left it when Daddy tucked me in, the makeup brush and dress and shoes are all over the room. I pick up the dress and the hanger and tuck it away in CJ's closet where I got from. I sit on the bed and look around. I didn't notice before, but the drawer of her bedside table is open a crack. I look around the room for a moment before caving and opening the drawer.

I don't know what I expected to find in there, but I feel disappointed when I see that the only thing in there is a book. I didn't even know CJ could read. I pick it up and turn it over in my hand, but it doesn't have a title or any pictures on the front. It's just a heavy black book with a ribbon tying it closed. I pull the tail of the ribbon, unraveling the bow, and I open the book.

It's full of CJ's writing. It must be her diary. I flip through the pages, watching as the dates get closer and closer to today, and I stop randomly near the back of the book. She sure writes a lot.

As I start to read the page, the book slips out of my hand and papers and pictures fall out onto the floor next to it. My heart races, wondering where they fell out of the book and if CJ will know I was touching her stuff. Kneeling on the floor, I gather the stray items and begin tucking them into the very back of the book. I stop, staring down at the picture on the floor next to my knee. I don't remember taking it, but I've seen enough pictures of the family to know that this is me and CJ. I'm just small, and CJ is sitting on a blanket on some grass with me between her legs. She's smiling and hugging me. I smile and turn over the picture. I smile as I read her hand writing.

- ME AND MY BABY SISTER –

I hear footsteps on the stairs and quickly tuck the picture away, shoving the book into the drawer and slamming it shut, but nobody comes in. I let out a deep breath and then realized I was holding my breath the whole time.

Slumping down on the floor, I lean against CJ's bedside table and look around. Maybe somewhere in this room there are clues to where CJ and Eli are. _Or maybe you just wanna snoop through her stuff some more._

Part of me knows that annoying voice in my head is right, but I really do want to find clues. I want to help. I want to find my sister and brother. Standing up, I look around the room, feeling determined to find anything.

_If you were a detective, where would you look first?_ I ask myself, turning around slowly, examining the space around me. I kneel down and tilt my head to look under the bed. Spotting a box, I lay down on my tummy and reach for it, tucking my finger in the corner and yanking it close to me.

…

"What are you doing?" Mommy's voice startles me. I was so lost in the box of stuff from under CJ's bed that I didn't even hear her come in.

"Nothing." I whisper, putting my full hands behind my back, as if she can't see the pile of things on the floor in front of me.

"You know you aren't supposed to snoop through your sister's things." Mommy says softly as she kneels down in front of me and puts some of the papers back into the box.

"I was looking for clues to help find CJ and Eli." I reply, bringing my hands back in front of me and placing the papers and pictures I was hiding into the box.

Mommy smiles at me, but she looks sad still. Her face changes before I have a chance to ask her why she's fake smiling. Now she looks kind of confused, and she pulls something out of the box.

I watch silently as she picks up a brown envelope and reaches inside. Her forehead is all wrinkley as she looks at the papers that were inside. They look like pictures, and her face looks worse and worse every time she flips to the next one.

"What is it, Mommy?" I ask, reaching for the pictures so I can see why she looks so worried.

"Nothing, sweetie. You put this stuff away and get into bed." Mommy says, running her hand over my hair before hurrying out of the room with the envelope and the small pictures.

I sigh and push the box back under CJ's bed before getting up off the floor and looking around again. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I open the side table drawer again and pull out CJ's book and a pen from inside. Flipping to the first empty page near the back of the book, I pop the cap off of the pen and start to write, starting with the date and Dear Diary, just like CJ does.

* * *

"Christian." Ana mumbles from the doorway, distracting me from the clock on the computer screen counting down to god only knows what.

"What is it?" I ask, seeing concern etching in every line of her pale face.

"These were in CJ's bedroom." She whispers, handing me a very familiar looking envelope.

I reach in, pulling out some scraps of what used to be photos, only they've been cut up. Every piece is carefully cut along the curve of the neck, depicting only my own teenage face, but I know exactly what each bodiless head used to be attached to: the photos Elena held over my head. These pictures are the counterpart to the ones the police found in Elena's car, along with many of other boys, though their heads were still intact.

"She…" I say, unsure how to continue. "Where did you find these?" I ask, shoving them back into the envelope.

"In a box under CJ's bed that Jaisyn was going through." She replies softly, and my eyes dart to hers, but she shakes her head, as if she can read my troubled thoughts.

"I don't think she saw them." Ana assures me, explaining that she walked in on Jaisyn just before she opened that envelope.

"CJ saw these… she… my god, Ana. Do you know what this means?" I ask, feeling bile rise in my throat as I realize how much my daughter knows, how much she has seen. Ana nods silently and reaches toward my face, brushing a tear I hadn't realized I'd shed with her thumb. "My baby…" I whisper, aching to hold CJ and make sure that what she's seen hasn't ruined her, corrupted her. "You're positive that Jaisyn didn't see these?" I ask, beseeching her to tell me what I need to hear.

"I'm sure, Christian. She wouldn't have known what they were anyway." She says, and I nod, knowing she's right.

"Elena might have known though. She might be responsible." I say, feeling even more ill at the idea of Elena Lincoln with my children somewhere.

"She's on house arrest until her trial, Christian. How could it be her?" Ana asks, being my voice of reason for me.

* * *

"CJ did this to protect you." Mommy says, and I wonder what CJ was protecting Daddy from. "In her own, mixed up way, she tries to protect everyone." She adds, and I nod silently to myself because I know it's true.

After writing in CJ's diary, I read a little of what she wrote before, and a lot of the stuff she wrote about was protecting Eli from jerks at school, and protecting Baby Rae from all the scary stuff in the world, and even me. She wrote about how she wishes she could save me from turning out just like her. After reading her book, I feel kind of bad about thinking she was such a big jerk all this time.

She's not a jerk. She's the best big sister in the whole world, and now I wish I hadn't spent so much time pushing her buttons.


	11. www PAYFORGREY com

I'm so glad you guys enjoyed that last chapter, and the little peek inside the head of Jaisyn Grey! Here's the next installment. I know it's been a few days, but I had a bit of a block where this was concerned. This entire chapter was already written, but I reread it and absolutely hated 90% of it, so I started from scratch and only included the parts that still felt relevant.

I'll start writing the next chapter tonight or tomorrow, and I'll try to have it posted in the next few days.

Thanks again for sticking in there!

xo

**NOTE: The song mentioned in this part is Soldier by Gavin DeGraw. I just love how well it goes with the emotions in this chapter.**

**Chapter Eleven – www. PAYFORGREY .com:**

Far away voices seem to be rousing my reluctant brain from some kind of hazy world, but I can't seem to make my body move or my eyes open. I open my mouth, or at least I think I did, but nothing comes out.

_What's happening?_

It suddenly all begins to flood into my head, causing a tsunami of memories that clear my mind. I force my eyes open, but it takes me a moment to realize that they did in fact open. I'm surrounded by darkness. I roll onto my back, realizing I'm on a cold, concrete floor.

_Lelliott!_ I feel panic begin to set in and force myself to sit up. Everything hurts, and I feel like my entire world is spinning.

"That feeling will wear off soon." It takes me a moment to register that those words were spoken by my baby brother.

"Elliott?" I ask to the darkness, but my voice is a hoarse whisper.

"Are you okay?" He asks, and I nod, the feeling jostling my still foggy brain. _He can't see you._

"I think so." I reply, feeling around me for a wall or my brother… anything really. _Where the hell are we?_

"Good. From this moment on, you're not my sister, and I don't give a fuck what happens to you or your stupid family." He mutters, and I have to pause to confirm what I think I've just heard.

"Eli? Just calm down. I'm gonna get us out of this. Where are you?" I ask, blinking in an attempt to force my eyes to acclimate to the darkness. "Elliott?" I call to him when he doesn't reply, but he still remains silent.

Suddenly a blinding light shines in my eyes, and I throw my arm up to shield my face. It moves, and I realize it's a flashlight.

"Your light is there." Lelliott's disembodied voice says, and the light shines on a small flashlight in the corner of what appears to be a cell of some sort. I scramble across the floor and grab the flashlight flicking it on quickly. "The battery only has eight hours." He adds, moving his beam to another space in my cell. "Food. Water." He says, shining the beam onto a large bottle of water, a loaf of bread, and a jar of peanut butter.

"Elliott, do you remember what happened?" I ask, holding my light as I scramble toward the bars separating us into two cells.

"I remember everything, CJ." He says, but his voice sounds cold and distant. "Right up until they drugged us." He adds.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I ask, but he flicks off his light and remains silent. I shine my light into his cell and see him sitting in the corner, his knees up to his chest and his arms around them. "Are you cold?" I ask him, but he just turns away, and I wonder why he's treating me like this.

I take off my jacket and shove it through the bars onto the cement floor of his cell. He can be petulant if he likes, but god help me if I let him sit in a dank cell and freeze.

"I don't want your jacket." He mutters, but he doesn't look at me.

"Well, I don't want it either, so you may as well just light it on fire or something." I reply, sitting back against the wall and rubbing my hands up and down my bare arms.

I feel like I should flick off my flashlight to conserve the battery life, but I'm afraid to be in the dark again.

"Did someone come speak to you? Do you know who did this?" I ask him, but he doesn't answer me this time. "Well, either way. I'm going to get us out of this. Dad is probably scouring the Earth right now." I say, and I idly wonder if I'm trying to reassure him or myself.

I pause, unsure if I heard him scoff or if my mind is playing tricks on me, but I don't push the subject. Instead, I flick off my light and pull my knees in beside me. It's only then that I realize I'm only wearing one of my shoes.

"Cinderella." I whisper to myself.

"What?" Lelliott asks, his voice sounding annoyed.

"I lost my shoe." I reply softly into the darkness.

"I don't think you'll be needing them." He replies snarkily.

"It's like Cinderella." I reply, ignoring his tone. I'm mostly just talking to myself anyways. "She left her shoe behind, and Prince Charming searched all over the kingdom for her." I explain. "And Wesley." I add.

"Your dog?" Lelliott asks, and I realize he doesn't really know fairytales like I do.

"No, silly." I sigh. "The Princess Bride. Buttercup is taken by Prince Humperdink and forced to marry him, and then the pirates kidnap her, and Wesley goes through torturous hell just to rescue her."

"Sounds morbid." Lelliott replies, and I nod to myself, agreeing with him.

"We'll be found and rescued." I murmur.

"This isn't a movie, Christian." He mutters back, and I shrug.

Before I have a chance to reply, a bright light floods the room, revealing the silhouette of a man standing in the doorway to the larger room our cells appear to be in.

"Show time!" He says, clapping his hands together.

* * *

"Is she asleep?" Christian asks, startling me as I stand silently in the doorway of CJ's bedroom, staring at Jaisyn resting peacefully on CJ's bed.

"Yes." I reply quietly. "It looks like she's been snooping through CJ's things again." I murmur, having spied CJ's journal on the bed next to Jaisyn.

"She's relentlessly curious." Christian says, and attempts to wrap his arms around my waist, but I pull away, not wanting to be touched or comforted right now, and walk into CJ's bedroom.

I sit on the edge of the bed and stroke Jaisyn's bangs from her forehead. She doesn't stir, so I pick up the journal, not daring to look back at the husband I've just snubbed.

By the time I get up, Christian is gone, and I wander toward Rae's nursery, stopping at Eli's open bedroom door. He never leaves it open; Detective Jaisyn must have been here as well. I flick on the light and walk into the pristine bedroom. The only things even remotely disorderly are his paintings, stacked against the bedroom wall. I feel tears drip down my cheeks at the sight of a painting at the front of the stack.

"He's incredibly talented." Christian says from the doorway, and I wonder where he's been lurking so quietly while I've been here.

"Yes, he is." I agree, staring at my own face, painted delicately, every stroke full of the love between Eli and myself.

"I will get them back, Anastasia." He whispers, and I pray he's right. I pray this is the straw that will break the camel's back. He needs to be rid of the excessive security and be more present in his children's lives. He and I are supposed to protect them, not some retired military man.

"I'm scared, Christian." I tell him, trying to bite my tongue of the angry, bitter words I'm actually feeling.

"I'm sorry." He whispers, bowing his head, as if he's unable to meet my eyes. "I will get them back, and I will fix this all, Anastasia. I promise you, I will fix it." He says, and I reach for him, lifting his chin, so he has to meet my eyes.

"I know." I tell him, stroking a tear from his cheek with my thumb.

We're both startled by the sound of Taylor clearing his throat. "The site is up, sir." He says, not missing a beat or acknowledging the moment he probably witnessed. _Good old Taylor_.

…

"What is this?" Christian snaps as we gather around the computer screen.

"It appears to be some kind of countdown." Barney explains, and Christian rolls his eyes.

"FOR WHAT?" Christian shouts back in response, but nobody answers. Nobody knows.

The screen is black with only a large white digital clock in the center. There are no links or other words, but the seconds tick by, and we all stand watching as time counts down to some unknown event.

"Have you got a trace yet?" Christian snaps, startling the room as we all seemed to be hypnotized by the clock.

"Not yet, sir." Barney replies, his voice devoid of any emotion, fear or otherwise. "They seem to bouncing off of several towers all over the world. They anticipated this move on our part." He adds.

"Don't stop trying to trace them." Christian barks at him, though I know he's grateful to Barney for being here, even if he doesn't know how to show it.

"Never, sir." Barney replies quietly, and I see Christian nod at Barney, silently thanking him.

"We're down to sixty seconds." Sawyer points out, causing everyone to look back at the computer screen, terrified by what may grace our eyes when the clock gets to zero.

At 00:39 Grace and Carrick arrive with a friend from the FBI and his team, but Christian refuses to involve any local police enforcement yet.

10… 9... 8… 7…

6… 5… 4…

3… 2…

1…

* * *

A bright light flashes in my eyes in the cell, and I cover my face, turning toward my sister only to see her doing the same.

"Smile pretty for the camera." A man says, and I lower my arm carefully, as the lights become less bright, and my eyes adjust. Just outside the bars of our cells is a video camera on a tripod and several lights.

CJ stares defiantly into the camera, and I wonder how she can be so brave. Probably because she has no heart. She doesn't care about what happens to me or herself. She's always reckless, and after tonight, it makes sense. She's absolutely insane.

After what feels like ages of just sitting here with a camera pointed at us, someone else comes in and instructs the man to leave for now, and take it down after an hour.

"We'll just loop that clip. It's harder to trace if we don't live stream the entire time." He says, and I recognize the man's voice, at least I think I do.

Apparently CJ does as well. "SANDY?" She shouts, scrambling a few seconds before her flashlight comes on.

"Do you have any idea how much I HATE when you little brats call me that?" He says, and I see CJ's beam flash over his face. The other men wear masks, but not Sanders. I guess he doesn't expect us to survive this and identify him to the police.

"Why are you doing this?!" CJ demands, standing up and grabbing the bars nearest to where Sanders is standing. "You're supposed to protect us!" She shouts at him.

"Protect you. Yes. Not babysit you and grant your every wish!" Sander's snaps back, grabbing CJ's flashlight from her and shining it in her face. "Do you know what I've gone through since being hired to be your on call man servant?!" He asks, and I watch CJ back away slowly, leaning against the wall of her cell as far away from Sanders as possible. "My wife got sick and tired of me having to rush out of dinners and family events. She left me. I had to get an apartment. I couldn't drink myself into the stupor I wanted to because I had to be available for you spoiled little brats, and I couldn't afford to lose this job."

"How is that our fault?" CJ snaps, and I wonder if she was scared at all when she backed away. If she keeps antagonizing him, he may very well kill us.

"Listen, I don't want to hurt you two. Your parents will pay to get you back, and I can pay off some people that I owe some money to and get the hell out of town, so keep your mouths shut, or your parents will be buying back your bodies instead." He says, flicking off the flashlight and leaving us sitting in utter darkness again.

I hear rustling as CJ slides down the wall and sits down. "I'll get you out of this." She whispers, and I roll my eyes. She always thinks she can solve any problem. I'll get myself out of this. Her parents will buy her back.

* * *

"I thought you said we'd give them back after their parents paid." I ask the man who loaned me a small fortune when I gambled my paychecks away.

"Sandy, I'm a business man, and the money I loaned you didn't come from my pocket. It came from my very generous benefactor. If we can get top dollar for these Grey kids, shouldn't we?" He asks, his voice condescending, using that stupid nickname CJ uses all the time.

"Any amount you ask, their parents will pay." I assure him, but he shakes his head.

"Emotions, Sandy. That's what got you into so much trouble to begin with. Let me handle this from here out. When the bidding ends, I'll give you your cut, minus what you owe me, of course, and I'll handle the rest." He says, and I stare at the screen as a clock counts down from the eight hour window he set up for anyone with the link to bid on CJ and Eli.

I watch as the price rapidly increases, wondering if the Grey's are actively up-bidding every offer.

"I think eight hours is too long. They'll find us before that clock runs out." I say, hoping that will entice him to just take the easy road and demand a lump sum of cash from the Greys.

"Sandy, we're both gambling men, aren't we?" He asks, laughing to himself as he pats his computer tech on the back.

* * *

Sitting in the dark, I hold my breath, hoping my brother can't hear me crying. He doesn't need to know that I'm scared. I just need to get him the hell out of here alive. I know I need to calm down, but the combination of the situation and the darkness is getting to me. I've always hated the dark. I sleep with my laptop screen open most nights so that the shadows in the room are slightly illuminated, but I could never admit something like that. My little brother and sisters need me to be strong for them. They're all so small and sweet.

I know Elliott has been through hell, but he's always had such a soft heart; he's so easily hurt. Then there's Jaisyn, who's feelings are hurt with a look, and who wants nothing more than to be just like me. It's like she doesn't get the damn picture when I try to push her away. I just don't want her to have the life I've had. I started out resenting her, but as she got older and didn't become the enemy I'd always anticipated her to be, I realized how much I needed to shield her from my world. Rae's so small, she doesn't know any other emotion than love right now; I wish I could keep her from ever feeling anything else…

Thinking about my siblings helps when I'm upset. They give me a purpose. It's not like there's anything else I have going for me, not like my brother. He's such a brilliant artist. So is Alex.

_Alex. I should have never lost touch with him, and now, who knows what will happen?_

* * *

"La da da da da, la da da da da," I hear CJ murmur quietly, and I strain to hear her as she continues. "Where did all the people go? They got scared when the lights went low. I'll get you through it nice and slow, when the world spinning out of the control" She sings softly, and I close my eyes, remembering every time I've heard her absently singing to herself when we were younger. She doesn't do it as often anymore. "Afraid of what they might lose, might get scraped or they might get bruised. You can beg, oh, what's the use? That's why it's called the moment of truth."

"I forgot how well you could sing." I murmur, feeling completely soothed by the sound of her voice.

"It helps me feel calm." She whispers back, sounding self conscious. "I'm afraid of the dark." She adds, and I hear her voice catch.

I'd forgotten about that as well.

"I'll get it, if you need it. I'll search if you can't see it, you're thirsty, I'll be the rain, if you get hurt I'll take your pain." She sings softly again, and I flick on my flashlight, standing it up in the cell so that it's light gives bounces off of the ceiling and dimly lights both of our cells.

"Don't stop." I whisper, realizing that her song is comforting me as well, regardless of what she said earlier, regardless of whatever the hell we're going to do. I just need to hear her sing.

"I know you don't believe it, but I said it, and I still mean it, when you heard what I told you, when you worried, I'll be your soldier." She goes on, but I don't really recognize the song.

* * *

"Staring at my children in side-by-side jail cells angers me, even more so as I watch them interact and listen to CJ sing. The same clip has played three times though, and that worries me. I haven't said anything to anyone else for fear of Ana hearing, but a looped feed could mean that the children aren't in the same condition they were while the clip was filmed.

"I forgot too." Ana murmurs, sitting next to the computer screen.

"What?" I ask, moving to stand behind her.

"How beautiful our daughter's voice is." She replies, and I nod, guilty of the same offense. She really is talented in this department. I don't know why she never asked for lessons or joined a choir. It never seemed to be a priority to her.

Sighing, I go back to where Barney is working relentlessly to trace the IP Address that the site originates from. Taylor is checking into our files on Sanders and any acquaintances. We've already discovered that his wife left him a few months ago, but he never changed his home address on his employee file. His bank accounts are in the red, and his credit cards are all maxed out. Wherever he is, he hasn't left a paper trail, but I've sent Sawyer and Taylor to check into the last locations his cards were used anyway.

We've got nothing to go on but this website.

…


	12. It's Probably Too Late, Forget Yesterday

Just a quick thank you to everyone who is still interested in this story. I know it's been ages since I've posted anything, but I hit several real life problems, and now I'm contending with a broken computer. The bittersweet truth is, when I get my student loan money in September to replace my laptop, I'll have no time to use it for anything but homework.

I recently joined twitter to follow/chat with you guys (thanks to a suggestion from Ljs117), so feel free to tweet me :) MrsLuthorFFNet

I'm working on chapter 13 now. I'm hoping to finish the story in the next couple of weeks, using my terribly broken - screened computer.

**Chapter 12 – It's Probably Too Late, Forget Yesterday, We'll Make the Great Escape**

"HELLO!" I shout for the third time. "SANDY!?" I call, immediately regretting using that name. "Mr. Sanders?" I call more softly this time

"What?" He shouts, and I look around, wondering where his voice came from.

"I need to use the washroom." I reply to the slight darkness, still illuminated by only Eli's flashlight.

I sit quietly, waiting for a response, from whatever intercom system he was speaking to me from, but nothing happens.

The door suddenly opens, and he shines a light in my eyes. "Don't try anything stupid." He mutters, unlocking my cell and grabbing me by the arm.

When we leave the room our cells are in, I see that we're in some kind of warehouse, but there must be other rooms because I don't see any of the other people. Sandy leads me down an empty hall and into an office nearby.

"No windows." He mutters opening the door and ushering me into the bathroom. "You have five minutes." He adds, and I nod vigorously, closing the door behind me and leaning against it.

He wasn't lying. There are no windows in this bathroom. I look around for a moment before going about my business. Standing up to wash my hands, I notice a large vent above the broken mirror, and laugh at my desperation. I'd get stuck halfway through that vent and probably die of starvation before anyone found my bones 400 years later.

I leave the tap running as I visually explore the small room for a weapon that might come in handy later, but nothing really jumps out at me.

"Let's go!" Sandy shouts, pounding on the door and startling me.

…

"Elliott." I whisper, sitting as close to the bars connecting our cells.

"Yea?" He asks, sounding tired.

"Sit beside me?" I ask him quietly, but he doesn't reply. After a long stretch of silence, he shuffles over and leans against the wall next to the bars separating us. "You know I love you, right?" I ask him, and he shifts uncomfortably. "Elliott Grey." I scold him, staring at the side of his head.

"What you said tonight…" He starts, but doesn't elaborate.

"I was trying to save your life." I tell him, but he still remains quiet. "Do you have any idea what I would do for you, Eli? You're my baby brother! I would personally slaughter anyone in this world with my bare hands to protect you." I say, and I know I'm not exaggerating. I mean it. I really would cause physical harm to anyone who laid a hand on him. "Understand?" I ask, when he doesn't say anything.

"It's cool." He murmurs, but I can tell it's not, and it won't be until I get him out of this and prove to him how far I would go to keep him safe.

"I need you to go to the bathroom." I whisper to him, and he turns sharply to look at me.

Keeping my voice quiet, I explain my plan to him, waiting quietly for him to absorb everything I've just said.

"But what about you?" He asks, and I smile at him.

"Just do what I told you, and don't look back." I whisper, reaching through the bars and squeezing his hand, handing him the piece of glass from the mirror I snatched. "Use this." I instruct him.

We sit silently as he stares into my eyes, as if he's searching for something, some kind of answer that I don't have. When he finally nods, I release his hand and shift away from him.

* * *

"Five minutes." Sander's says as I close the bathroom door and turn the lock.

I carefully climb onto the toilet and pull the piece of glass out of my pocket, using it to turn the screw at the top of the vent.

_This is going to be a piece of cake._

Crawling through the vent, I think of CJ sitting in the cell and wonder if I should have left her. Where do I go when I get to the end of this vent? Does it even lead somewhere outside? Would CJ send me down some long dark tunnel without knowing where it would lead me?

I panic as I begin to see light in front of me. Should I leave? I can't go home without her. My father would have my head for leaving her behind. I should have my head for leaving her behind.

As I get closer to the light, I see another vent in front of me, and I'm glad I kept that piece of glass. Looking through the vent, I can see outside. There's a short stretch of tall grass that looks as if it hasn't been mowed in years, and then what looks like a wooded area.

At the edge before the woods, I stop and look back, catching my breath and searching for any sign that I'm being followed. My lungs are burning with every breath, and I remember why I don't take part in any sports teams: I suck at running.

* * *

"Where the hell is he?" The man shouts in my face.

"I don't know!" I shout back. "What did you do to him!?" I add, silently thanking the universe for Elliott's obvious successful escape.

"She doesn't know anything." Sandy says, and the man stands up, elbowing Sandy in the face.

"Find that kid!"

With everyone scrambling to get up and search for my brother, I make my move and run toward the only door I see. I feel blinded as I realize the door leads outside of the building, but I shake my head, continuing to run around the building, following the fence in front of me toward an opening.

"Get her!" Someone shouts, and I risk a glance over my shoulder to see who is coming. Stumbling before I can register who is chasing me, I fall and feel the piercing pain of the gravel surface of the ground dig into my knees and shins.

"Leave her alone!" A familiar voice shouts and relief, along with disappointment and dread flood me all at once.

_Lelliott…_

"Eli, just come with me, and I'll let your sister escape." Sandy says, and I look up at him in shock.

"We're both going to leave." Elliott states firmly in a tone I've never heard from him in all of his life, and I try to look up at him, but the early morning sun is blinding me. It's only then that I realize we'd been there all night.

"I can't let that happen, Elliott." Sandy says, and clicking sound draws my attention back to him.

"Let my brother go, and I'll stay." I beg, trying desperately not to cry at the sight of the switch blade in Sandy's hand.

"He's not your brother." Sandy says, his voice snarky and condescending, as if he knows something we don't. "You weren't even part of the plan. You were an added bonus that I thought I could use as a leveraging chip with those guys in there. You've really turned into more trouble than you're worth."

"He IS my brother. We've been through everything together, things worse than this, so don't you EVER think you can convince us that he's not my brother." I say, my voice low and angry as I get to my feet.

"I'm your blood, Elliott. No matter what the Greys have given you, no matter what this… girl thinks; I'm your blood." Sandy says, and I can sense Eli's confusion along with mine.

"I thought this was about your gambling problem." I state, feeling the cold realization of what Sandy is saying rushing through my veins.

"It was, and I got in with the wrong people, but a friend of Elliott's mother helped me find my son, and well, two birds, one stone. The Greys pay ransom for their child, or in this case, children, my debts are repaid and Eli and I are long gone before anyone can do anything about it. You understand." He says, shrugging casually as if this complex plan was some flawless scheme he'd get away with. I guess the gambler in him thought it would work. "Consider yourself my debt paid, and Elliott won't be harmed in any way." He says, and I look over at Eli's ashen face as he allows this information to sink in.

"Are you really…?" He murmurs softly as a silent tear streaks down his face.

"Yes. I'm your father, Elliott." Sandy replies. "I'm all you've got. Those people aren't your family. SHE is not your family." He continues.

"Eli, he's lying. Don't listen to him." I whisper, trying to take his hand, but he pushes me away. "Lelliott…" I cry, staring into his blank face.

The next moment is passing as if in both slow motion and super-speed, and I feel as though I'm missing pieces of it as I feel cold metal on my arm and hard pebbles of gravel on my face.

"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" I hear Eli shout, but his voice sounds faded and echoed, as if he's down some long hallway and his words are bouncing off the walls a million times before hitting my ears. "Come on, get up." He whispers, grabbing my wrist and yanking me to my feet.

I glance back at the ground and register the blood that's spilling onto the gravel as my eyes follow it to Sandy's still form on the ground and the piece of broken mirror glass sticking out of his neck as his eyes blink and his hands apply pressure to his wound.

"LET'S GO!" Eli shouts, dragging me back to his tearstained face and the death grip he has on my wrist.

…

"We're almost there." Eli says as we hurry through the wooded area, and I wonder how he knows because all I can see in any direction is more woods.

"I'm sorry you had to do that." I whisper, wiping new tears from my face, but he doesn't reply, and I wonder if it's because he's angry with me for costing him his only lifeline to his real family, or if he genuinely doesn't know what to say.

Maybe his silence says more than any words ever could. It's a very Christian T. Grey thing to do: hide your emotions with stoic silence because your response hurts you too much to have to think about it. He's exactly like our father in that way. He's nothing like Sandy. Blood or no blood, this boy is a Grey.

* * *

"Sir." Sawyer says softly, clearing his throat from the doorway to the kitchen. "Mr. Jacobs is here." He adds quietly as I hand Ana her tea and walk to meet Sawyer in the doorway.

"Alex." I say quietly, looking into the boy's troubled face.

"I hope it's okay, but I just—I couldn't be at home." He says, running his hands through his hair and turning away, as if he's ashamed of how he's feeling.

Pausing for only a moment, I remember that nobody else knows about my missing children, and concern for Alex washes over me.

"What's wrong?" I ask him, and he explains about his mother's recent misfortune in the work force and subsequent drinking problem. Suddenly everything about his behaviour makes sense, and I make note to deal with it as soon a CJ and Eli are safe.

"Come, dear." Gail says, stepping into the room from some unbeknownst location and ushering Alex into the other room.

I only have a moment's peace before the female lead of the team from the FBI working with my team enters the room. "We have something." She states, glancing at Ana's hopeful expression. "It's only a possibility that it could be related to your children." She adds hurriedly.

"What is it?" I demand, watching her take a deep breath.

"A hiker called in the discovery of a body in a wooded area on the outskirts of town. Its location is close to one of IP Address pings that the video feed bounced off of." She explains, but the only word I can focus on right now is 'body'.

"Did they give a description?" Ana asks, and I can hear both of our panic in her wavering voice.

"No. The local authorities are going to get back to me immediately, but without being able to explain what my interest in this is…" She trails off, and I know she's trying again to urge us to contact the press and expand our team to an official search party.

* * *

"Do you hear that?" Eli asks, stopping to listen more carefully to whatever it was he thought he heard. "It sounds like sirens." He murmurs after a moment of silence.

"We must be near a road." I murmur, trying to locate the direction of the sounds that I now hear as well.

"This way!" Eli shouts, grabbing my wrist and dragging me as we run through the woods toward the sound of the sirens, but they began to fade, getting further away from us.

"We're going the wrong way…" I whisper, straining my ears for any sign of them.

"No…" Eli replies. "We weren't. I know it." He adds quietly, closing his eyes.

In this brief moment of silence and rest, I feel my bare feet screaming in agony and notice the large cut on my upper arm.

"We need to keep going this way." Eli says, looking at the sky, and I wonder what it is he's looking for. "The sun was rising over the back of the building, so as long as we keep traveling this way, we'll keep moving away from the building." He explains, obviously noting my confusion.

I follow him, trusting this strange knowledge that I hadn't even known he possessed and wondering if this way would lead us to a road like we'd been assuming all this time.

* * *

The hike through the woods has been mostly silent, save for the few moments when CJ and I stopped to decide on directional changes and the brief moment where we sat down and I gave her my shoes. I don't know what to say to her. I know I should feel bad or some sense of loss about Sandy, about the possibility that he was telling the truth, but I don't. It came down to saving my sister or knowing where I really came from, and the choice was simple.

_What choice?_

I wouldn't have changed it in any situation. CJ did everything in her power to get me out of there, knowing she'd probably never make it out safely. When she apologized about me having to stab Sandy, I felt the guilt of a thousand murders on my hands. It wasn't even because I'd just killed a man either.

Ever since Sanders came into our lives, he's been telling me things, small bits of information, little comments here and there; he fed on my insecurities and made mountains out of molehills. It's only now that I realize he did this intentionally to build up to a moment when I'd turn on my family and leave willingly with him. I feel like believing anything he's ever said to me is the greatest betrayal to my family I could ever commit. The greatest betrayal to my father, my real father: Christian Grey.


	13. Calling on Saint Christopher

For those of you not following me on Twitter ( **MrsLuthorFFNET**) when I released this little tidbit of information about this chapter: Saint Christopher is the patron saint of travelers. This chapter is inspired by that fun factoid as well as the song St. Christopher by Michael Logan.

**Chapter 13 – Calling on Saint Christopher:**

"That's him." Christian says as the medical examiner pulls the sheet just low enough for us to see Sanders' blood and dirt covered face. "That's Sanders." Christian adds quietly, probably thinking the same things that I am.

"If Sanders is dead…" I start, speaking quietly to our FBI agent. "What are the chances that CJ and Eli are—" I stop, unable to speak the word.

"A piece of glass was stabbed into his jugular. It looks like a broken mirror." She explains. "If I had to guess, I'd say your kids probably escaped, and he chased them through the woods. One of them must have had the glass from wherever they were being held…" She trails off and Christian nods, but personally, I'm not satisfied with guess work.

"If the person who took them is dead, where the hell are my kids?" Christian asks sharply, as if that nod had been his way of making sure he didn't raise the death toll before he went completely Christian on them all.

"I think it's time I talked to my supervisor. I've kept quiet about this, but our chances of finding your children in the woods would greatly increase with more man power." She explains. "Time is of the essence. That man was killed elsewhere and dragged into the woods. We need all the help we can get." She adds, walking away before either of us has a chance to object.

Christian silently takes out his blackberry and presses a button before putting it to his ear and waiting only a brief moment.

"Call a press conference." He snaps into the phone. "I want CJ and Eli's pictures on every television screen and the front page of every magazine and newspaper in the god damn country!" He shouts, his voice elevating an octave with each word.

* * *

"Okay?" Eli asks me for the third time as we wade through the thick muddy ravine.

"I'm fine." I lie, my legs protesting as we trudge on through. I stop when I hear him make a scoffing sound. "What?" I demand, placing my hands on my hips and glaring at him from behind.

"What?" He asks back, mimicking my words as he turns to face me.

"You don't think I can handle this? You don't think I'm strong enough to swim across this shit river?" I ask, tilting my head to the side and daring him to challenge me.

"I just—" He pauses, as if he's trying to form the least offensive statement while still getting his point across. "I'm surprised that you're not freaking out. You really keep a cool head in these situations. I didn't notice it until now, but you really have a knack for being in control." He says, and I feel myself melt like butter.

"Thanks." I murmur, dropping my hands and edging toward the other side of the ravine. Eli climbs out first, and grasps my arms, yanking me up the slight ledge where water erosion has worn away the river bank. "You really think I have a cool head?" I ask as we weave through the trees and low hanging branches.

"You always have." He replies quietly. "It's like you just KNOW what to do in any situation, prime example: back there with the glass and the air vent." He adds. "How'd you know it would lead to outside anyways?" He asks, and I bite my lip.

"I had no idea it would lead outside." I admit. "I just figured if you could fit in the vent, you'd be able to follow it to another room with a door, or at the very least hide quietly until it was safe to make a run for it." I explain.

"Why didn't you just climb through and leave?" He asks, his voice sounding perplexed.

"And then what would they do to you when they realized I'd escaped?!" I demand, irritated that he'd even think I'd leave him alone with those creeps. "I'd NEVER leave you behind, Elliott Grey! Not for anything."

"I didn't mean LEAVE, leave. I meant, like, go for help." He amends, but I still don't see how that makes any difference. I'd never leave him to take the brunt of anything my actions caused.

"Eli, whenever the shit hits the fan, I'm always going to jump in front of the projectile turd for you. I can't help it, and frankly, I wouldn't change that instinct if I could." I explain, hoping my analogy isn't too crude.

"But why?" He asks, shaking his head in what appears to be perplexed amazement.

"When I was really little, back when Mom and I lived in Georgia with GiGi and Grandpa Ray, there was this guy…" I pause, trying to remember the man's face, but it doesn't work. "Anyways, he lived with us, I guess. I think he was Mom's boyfriend?" I continue. "Something happened between them, and I just remember her being at the bottom of the stairs and him at the top, and things went really bad after that." I explain. "I don't even remember if I was there or if I overheard people talking about it, but the image has always been in my head. Anyways, Mom was in the hospital, and I just felt like I should have protected her, like there was something I should have done." I add quietly.

"Weren't you, like, four or something when you met Dad and moved back to Seattle?" He asks, and I nod. "So how could you have done anything? You were a kid, Ceej." He says.

"I know that." I start. "I know it in my head, but it doesn't change the fact that, ever since we got you, and you were this tiny little guy who couldn't grow and could barely speak and just… you'd been hurt so bad by those people." I pause, wiping my dirty hand over my equally dirty face in an attempt to swipe away the single tear rolling down my cheek. "I just wanted to wrap you in a cocoon and hug you and hide you away from all the bad things in the world. That's why I refuse to go to those functions for the Mom and Dad's children's centre. I can't bear to see all of those damaged kids… Their parents are just like the horrible people who had you. It's just another bloody reminder that there's not a damn thing I can do."

I recognize his contemplative expression as he nods silently and continues to hike in front of me.

"Thanks." He says softly after a long stretch, as if this entire time he's been replaying my confession in his head. "And I'm sorry." He adds, his tone even more quiet than before.

"Sorry?" I ask. "For what?"

"I forget sometimes, that I'm not the only one who feels that loss of not—" He pauses and stops walking, turning around to look at my face. "I always feel like I'm missing something, that you girls have something with Mom and Dad that I don't because they've been there your entire lives, and I just came out of the blue to them, already damaged and already… used, with issues." He confesses, and I feel the urge to hug him. "You didn't even know you had a father until you and your mother almost died."

I nod, wondering where he's going with this line of thinking.

"You're just as fucked up as I am." He says, his serene look turning to a classic Christian T. Grey smirk.

I slowly narrow my eyes at him, and allow a slow smile to creep across my mouth.

"What your fucking language. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" I ask him, pointing a finger at him as I try my hardest to form a stern expression around my smile.

…

"I can't believe it." I sigh, staring at the long paved road in front of us. "You really did it."

"Of course I did." Eli says, looking up and down the road as if he's determining which direction we should start walking.

"How did you do it?" I ask him, sitting down in the grass next to asphalt.

"I just… kept track of our surroundings and made note of the sun's path in relation to the downstream of the river…" He explains quietly, as if he's self conscious about his knowledge. "I basically made a giant compass out of the forest." He adds, shrugging as if it's no big deal.

"Elliott, you're a bloody genius." I tell him, grinning at his resourcefulness. "You should be a park ranger or one of those search and rescue guys who find people in the woods before they have to resort to cannibalism." I add, briefly thanking his brilliance for use not having to get to that point.

"I think we should go this way." He says, pointing up the road, completely dismissing my observation. He's really not good at taking compliments, and I make a mental note to break him of that habit.

* * *

"Elliott Moose, is on the loose… Elliott Moose, Is on the loose… Elliott, Elliott, Elliott, Elliott Moose…" CJ sings, as if that's that only song she knows.

"Do you hear that?" I ask, grabbing CJ by the wrist and looking behind us, toward the sound that's quickly approaching.

"Is that a car?!" She exclaims, and I nod, smiling at her despite the aching in my muscles and my head.

We stop and watch as a dirty old pick-up truck approaches us, slowing down as it draws nearer.

"You kids need a ride?" The old woman in the passenger seat asks. I step forward, but CJ places her hand on my chest, stopping me as she steps up to the window.

"We lost all of our camping gear in the river, if you can believe it." She lies, her voice sounding exasperated. "We completely capsized our canoe in the river on route to our next destination. It's our first time portaging." She adds, sighing heavily and laughing softly with the old woman and her husband who is leaning over to hear the tale of our terrible fate.

"Well, we can give ya'll a lift, but you'll have to ride in the back." The man says, nodding his head in the direction of the bed of the truck. CJ nods, and as I step toward the truck, I notice the sleeping child in the middle of the two elderly adults. "We're heading back from the competition." The old man adds, and neither CJ nor I ask what they're talking about; I think we're both just glad to have a ride.

I thank the couple as I follow CJ toward the bed of the truck, wondering if the couple noticed that she was wearing what used to be a really expensive and short cocktail dress with men's shoes and I am wandering about in my socks. Her story wasn't exactly well thought out, but she managed to get us into the truck.

Her high pitched scream brings me out of my thoughts, and I rush to the back of truck where she's standing.

"Don't mind him. He's a little cocky on account of he won first place and all, but he won't pay you no mind." The man hollers back, and I nod slowly, not daring to risk a glance at my sister's face as I climb up onto cold metal flat bed of the truck next to the biggest pig I've ever laid eyes on.

"Don't dawdle now. We've got to get Junior home." The woman says, smiling down at the child next to her.

I watch as CJ takes a deep breath and climbs into the truck, sitting as far away from the pig as possible, and closing her eyes, apparently trying to pretend it wasn't there.

"There's a truck stop just up ahead, about twenty minutes. We'll drop you kids there to get your affairs in order and arrange a ride with your folks." The man calls as he pulls back onto the road.

"They're lying." The old woman whispers, and I glance at my sister, wondering if she's heard what I did. Her eyes widen, but only for a split second before she nods gently at me and moves closer to me and the pig.

"Nobody else is going to hurt you, Elliott." She whispers, grabbing my hand and squeezing before laying her head on my shoulder. "Ever." She adds in a barely-whispered tone.

* * *

"You kids can make your call in there. Seems about time we stopped for something to eat ourselves. Maybe we'll all get a table." The old man says, as Eli jumps out of the truck and helps me down.

"What about your pig?" I ask, as we follow the couple and their grandchild into the truck stop diner.

"Oh, you can't eat him." The old man chuckles, and I look at my brother with a perplexed smile.

"What can I get you?" The waitress asks as we all sit in a large booth with ripped leather cushions.

"Coffee for me and the Missus." The old man says immediately. "Slice of your apple pie all around and a round of chocolate shakes for the kids." He adds before the waitress smiles politely at us all and walks away.

"Perhaps you kids would like to get cleaned up and make that call before your pie arrives." The old woman says sweetly, and I nod rapidly.

"Uhm, we can give you money for the food as soon as someone comes for us." Eli says, but the couple gives a dismissive wave and hands us a few quarters before shooing us off.

…

"Grey Residence." An unfamiliar voice answers after three rings.

"I need to speak with Mr. Grey." I say in the most formal and demanding voice I can muster.

"I'm afraid Mr. Grey has stepped out at the moment. Maybe I can assist you." The man on the other end of the line replies, and I panic. There is nobody else we can trust right now. Our own security kidnapped us.

"Perhaps Mrs. Grey is available, then?" I ask, trying to mask my fear.

"She is also unavailable." The man replies. "Is this an urgent matter?"

"No. I'm a friend of their daughter's. I was wondering if she was grounded because I couldn't get a hold of her on her cell. Thanks anyways." I lie, hanging the phone up quickly.

"Who was it?" Eli asks, and I shake my head.

"I'm not sure. The only thing I am sure of is that we can't just give our location to some stranger who answers the phone. We talk to no one, Elliott. We tell no one who we are until we talk to Dad." I instruct him, and he nods, obviously understanding the gravity of our situation and the risk we'd be taking by trusting anyone other than our parents.

…

"It's been a while since you made that call." The old man points out as the waitress refills his coffee cup for a second time since she cleared up the pie and milkshake dishes.

"Yea, we live in the city. Traffic." I explain smoothly. "He'll be here." I add, and Eli nods, agreeing with me.

"Ceej, maybe we should go call and see where he is." He suggest, and I nod, getting up quickly and smiling at the elderly couple before we rush toward the payphone again.

"We should take off." I say once we're no longer within earshot.

"My thought exactly." Elliott agrees, and I'm glad that we have the same idea as we slip out a back door behind the diner.

…

"The bus station should be up here." I say, refolding the map I took from the magazine stand at the diner. "Mr. Stanley Albertson has a total of $84 in his wallet and a couple of credit cards. We should be able to get into the city with that." I add, smacking the worn leather wallet against my hand.

"You stole his wallet?!" Eli asks, looking mortified.

"I'm going to replace the money and mail it back!" I defend. "We needed to get out of there!"

"I know." Eli whispers, nodding gently and resigning to the fact that we're officially thieves and liars.

...

"Just try to sleep." I tell Eli as I sandwich him into the cramped seat between my own modest accommodations and the window.

The sun is only just setting, but I can tell he's just as exhausted as I am. I don't tell him that I want him to sleep because I know the long, quiet ride toward Seattle is the perfect time for one's mind to remember all the horrible things that have happened today.

"Are you gonna sleep?" He asks, and I nod, lying, as he rests his head on my shoulder, and I place my cheek against the top of his head.

"We're safe now." I assure him in a whispered tone as I stare out the window and contemplate how I'm going to fix him when we get out of this.

* * *

Stanley Albertson frowned at his wife and grandson as he dug into his pocket for his wallet and came out empty handed. He was about to ask his wife to pay for their pie and go check on those two kids they'd given a ride to when the small television above the front counter began buzzing with a breaking news alert.

"_We interrupt this story on stolen crops to bring you news of two missing teenagers. Christian and Elliott Grey were abducted from a school dance—"_ The reporter starts as photos of the missing teens appear on the screen along with measurements and other vital facts, but all Stanley can do is stare at the faces.

"Stan…" His wife Edna starts as she too recognizes the faces of those kids, instantly regretting not pushing them for the real story when they so obviously had lied about what had happened to them.


	14. Breadcrumbs

A/N: In response to your questions about why they didn't try the cell phones: I didn't think it was logical. Personally, there are only two phone numbers that I know by heart: My cell phone number and my aunt's home number, which has been the same number for over a decade. With the dawn of cell phones and speed dials, I just didn't see two teenagers knowing, by heart, every number in their phone books.

Also, I decided that, since I was using twitter now, I'd share some insight into my crazy writing technique, so I posted photos of the people I used as inspiration while trying to describe/picture the various characters in the story. Enjoy!

**Chapter 14 – Breadcrumbs**

Standing unnoticed in the doorway of the Grey's dining room and make-shift technical command center, I watch as the youngest FBI agent I've ever seen in my life hangs up the phone.

"Where'd that call originate?" He asks, and I watch Mr. Taylor stand with his arms crossed as the agent at the computer, who dismissed Barney earlier, brings up a map and explains that the call came from a payphone about an hour outside of the city from a place called Pete's Diner.

"Why?" I ask before anyone else can, drawing all eyes to me. "What did they want?"

"Alex, you shouldn't be here." Mr. Taylor says, but I don't budge.

Most of CJ and Eli's friends are afraid of Jason Taylor. I've seen their reactions over the years when he's come to pick the Grey kids up from school, but I see past it. I still see the man who helped me wipe pasta sauce off of my chin when I was seven and went to dinner with CJ's family, or the man who, when he found out I'd kissed CJ, congratulated me, but only after he gave me the mandatory 'I'll break both of your legs if you hurt her' lecture.

"Was it the kidnappers?" I ask, ignoring Mr. Taylor's words.

"It was a young woman, she sounded nervous. I think it might have been CJ Grey." The FBI agent tells Mr. Taylor and the other two agents in the room.

"I want a team sent there immediately." Mr. Taylor says, his tone stern and demanding. It reminds me of Mr. Grey.

"All due respect, sir, but you don't run this ship." The agent says, and I watch as Taylor's jaw clenches and relaxes several times before he turns towards the doorway I'm standing in.

His shoulder knocks mine roughly as he passes between me and the doorframe, but before I can recover, something is grasping my shirt from behind and yanking me out of the room.

Recovering my balance, I note that my attacker is Mr. Taylor, who's blackberry is pressed firmly to his ear with one hand, while his other hand grips my arm and pulls me along with him.

"Christian." He says brusquely. "I have a lead. I'll send details to your phone when I get in the car. Sawyer and Gail have the little ones. I'm taking Alex." He adds before hanging up, and I wonder if he even waited for confirmation or a response. "In." He says sternly, pointing at the black SUV in the driveway as he jams in his phone into the breast pocket of his jacket.

…

Pulling into the parking lot of Pete's Diner makes my stomach drop. Two highway patrol cars are parked in front and several people are standing around talking while the officers take notes. Mr. Taylor walks briskly, quietly warning me, before we approach the crowd and blend in, to keep quiet and listen to what people are saying.

"We gave them a lift. They said they'd been camping and lost all their gear." An old woman explains as an officer writes her statement down in a small notepad.

"They looked like they were dressed for a party, not camping." An old man, holding the woman's hand adds. "The boy wasn't wearing any shoes, though, looked to me that he gave them to the girl." He continues, and I glance over at Taylor, who has moved to a closer vantage point.

"I'm sure they were those kids on the news. A little dirtier and scraped up, but it was most certainly them." The woman says, her voice sounding strained. "But they went to wash up and never came back. We're pretty certain they swiped Stanley's wallet as well. We would have given them money to get home if we'd known they needed help, mind you."

"Let's go." Taylor says, startling me as I realize that he is no longer across the crowd but rather right behind me.

"Where?" I ask, jogging to keep up with him.

"To the car." He answers quietly as we make our way back across the parking lot toward the SUV.

I walk around the other side to get into the passenger seat, but Taylor stops and opens the back door, pulling a large silver briefcase out from under the seat before climbing into the driver's seat.

"A rather chatty waitress says that Mr. Stanley Albertson believes CJ and Eli stole his wallet, complete with cash and credit cards." He explains, opening the case to reveal a laptop computer.

We sit in silence for several minutes as Mr. Taylor types things into the computer and brings up page after page of what appears to be random lines of writing along with dates and locations.

"They bought two bus tickets to Seattle at a depot nearby." He says finally, slamming the case shut and shoving it onto my lap before pulling out his blackberry and wedging it between his shoulder and ear.

I listen quietly as he relays the information to Mr. Grey, while simultaneously ripping out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.

…

"Did you sell tickets to these kids?!" Mr. Taylor asks, pressing photos against the bullet-proof glass of the ticket sales counter.

"Don't think so." The teenage boy behind the glass says, not bothering to look at the pictures.

"Look again." Mr. Taylor says, his voice eerily low and stern.

"I sell tickets to a lot of people, man." The boy says, and I watch as something in Mr. Taylor's eyes changes.

"Wait here." He instructs me before disappearing around the back of the ticket counter.

A moment later I see him inside the booth behind the sales boy. I watch the boy's face pale as Mr. Taylor grabs him by the back of his shirt and lifts him from his seat, throwing him against the wall of his booth.

It's this moment that I realize just how scary Jason Taylor can be.

"Did you sell tickets to these two kids today?" He asks, shoving the photos of CJ and Eli so close to the guy's face that he probably couldn't have looked at them if he wanted to.

"I—I—don't recognize them." The guy says. "But we have a self-serve counter over there." He adds quickly, pointing at a row of machines that look like ATMs.

"Thank you for being so cooperative. I appreciate your help." Mr. Taylor says calmly, releasing the boy and helping him stand upright again.

"Sure…" The sales boy says, glancing over at me with wide, terrified eyes, and I shrug because frankly, I enjoyed that spectacle a little more than I should have.

* * *

I'm startled awake by the individual overhead lights on the bus coming on and the loud voice on the speakers, and I silently scold myself for falling asleep. Eli sits up, lifting his head from my shoulder and allowing the circulation, which was apparently lacking, to return to my arm.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delay. The state police and the FBI have requested we pull the charter over. This stop is temporary, and we will continue on route to Seattle making all regularly planned stops along the way."

I look at Eli's sleepy face and see my own question reflected in his eyes: _Are they looking for us?_

"Don't say anything to anyone. If we get separated, trust nobody until you speak to Mom or Dad." I instruct him and he nods rapidly before grasping my hand and squeezing.

A long stretch of time looms over the bus and the chatter grows as people discuss what possible reason the police and the FBI have to pull us over.

It feels as though ages have passed, though the digital clock at the front of the bus indicates that it's only been twenty-five minutes since we pulled over in a gas station parking lot just off of the freeway.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the inconvenience; however, these agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation are going to be coming through the aisle to search the bus."

Slouching in our chairs, Eli and I watch as two agents shine bright lights into each pair of seats on either side of the aisle, getting closer and closer to our seats.

A combination of relief and dread are battling within me as I try to decide if we should go with these agents willingly or fight for our lives. I don't know who to trust anymore.

"Christian and Elliott Grey?" A tall male agent asks us, shining his light in our faces and holding up a photo as if comparing.

I nod subtly and make note of the chatter growing again as the other passengers speculate what crime we've committed.

"It's those missing kids from the news!" A woman gasps. "THE Christian Grey's children." She adds, and the chatter turns to loud noise as they watch us get perp-walked up the aisle toward the bus doors.

As we step off the bus, we're greeted with a familiar face, but the excitement soon dies as I question even the loyalty of Taylor. He's been like a second father to us, but how do we know he hasn't been swayed by some outside force? How do we know he's not working with Sanders? He did hire him, after all.

"Christian?" A familiar voice calls from behind the crowd of police officers and FBI agents, a voice I know I can trust beyond any doubt I may have about any other person in my life, and I search for his face.

"Alex?" I reply to the disembodied voice, waiting for the sea of people to part and reveal him to me.

A paramedic guides Eli and I over to sit on the back of an ambulance and wraps blankets over our shoulders. Taylor walks toward us, but I'm looking right past him at the face I've been unable to keep from my mind this entire time. The face that fills my head and my heart with regret for every awful thing I've ever done and every choice I've made in terms of my friends.

It 's not a conscious decision that I make when I jump off of the ambulance bumper and let the blanket fall to the ground, but somehow I'm doing just that, and regardless of the pain radiating through my entire body, I'm running through the people, pushing past them.

I'm cold and tired and hungry, but it feels as though all of that is gone as my arms wrap around his neck and my lips crash against his. He tastes of salty tears, and I'm unsure if they're mine or his. He hesitates, but I feel Alex's around wrap firmly around me, holding me as if his entire world would come crashing down if I slipped from his grasp.

"Ahem." A loud cough disrupts this perfect moment as I pull away from him and look up at Taylor, his eyebrow raised and Eli tucked safely at his side.

"We need to take statements from these two and check their vitals." An FBI agent says, trying to usher us away from Taylor and Alex, but neither of them will release us.

The sound of screeching tires in the parking lot draws all eyes to a fleet of black SUVS. This is it. This is the moment we needed. Seeing our parents coming toward us is confirmation that we can finally relax again. That everything will be okay.

I feel like the entire world is being lifted off of my shoulders as I watch, as if through someone else's eyes, my parents running toward Eli and me. My knees give out, and I feel myself drop to the concrete, my chest heaving with sobs as the gravity of what we've just been through hits me, and the entire weight of every emotion I've been holding onto throughout this whole ordeal finally rips through the surface of my calm and collected façade.


End file.
